Draft evaders barred from civil service jobs under new enforcement rules

The Civil Service Commission has instructed government ministries that draft-eligible candidates who have not regularized their status with the IDF cannot be hired for civil service positions. The move, first reported by Channel 12 News , follows Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara’s directives to step up enforcement and impose sanctions on draft evaders and those who evade military service. The commission stressed that the rules do not introduce a new employment requirement, but renew enforcement of an existing provision in the Civil Service Regulations that had not been properly enforced. The new guidelines, signed by Nissim Mizrahi, head of the commission’s senior staffing administration, were sent to human resources directors across government ministries and the security, health and foreign affairs systems. Mizrahi described the move as “a renewal and renewed enforcement of an existing provision that must be obeyed." As part of the change, the government’s recruitment system will be linked directly to the IDF database, allowing automatic checks of candidates’ military status. The system will complete hiring procedures only for candidates who have regularized their status with the military. Applicants will also be warned when applying for government positions that their appointment depends on resolving their status with the IDF. Candidates who win a government job tender but are found to have unresolved military status will be summoned to a written hearing and given just five days to resolve the issue or provide official documentation. Failure to meet the deadline will result in the cancellation of their tender victory. The guidelines apply only to draft-eligible candidates who have not legally regularized their status, not to those who hold an exemption or whose military status is otherwise in order.