Knesset Passes Contentious Haredi-Backed Bill to Enshrine Torah Study in Israel's Basic Law
- The Knesset passed the Basic Law: Torah Study with 63 lawmakers in favor and 52 against, establishing Torah study as a fundamental value of the State of Israel.
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu advanced this legislation as part of a political quid-pro-quo to secure haredi party support, which he has relied on for 17 years to maintain his governing coalition.
- Critics argue the law encourages draft evasion by providing state benefits to yeshiva students who do not serve, complicating IDF efforts to address manpower shortages estimated at 12,000 annually.
- The Movement for Quality Government in Israel petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn the law, claiming it intends to enshrine military service exemptions and undermine equal burden-sharing principles.
- Yisrael Beiteinu chairman MK Avigdor Liberman called the law 'a betrayal of IDF soldiers,' while opposition figures have pledged to repeal it after the approaching elections.
16 Articles
16 Articles
Knesset ratifies bill giving Jewish religious studies special status
The law includes only one clause: 'Torah study is a foundational value in the heritage of the Jewish people and in the State of Israel.' A clause equating yeshiva students with military personnel was removed for fear of harm to IDF soldiers
(Cairo=Yonhap News) Correspondent Kim Sang-hoon = The Israeli Knesset declared on the 13th (local time) that the study of the Torah, the Jewish scripture, is a 'fundamental value' for the Jewish people and the nation...
Basic Law: Torah Study Passes In Knesset As Lawmakers Argue Over Its Meaning
JERUSALEM (VINnews) — The Knesset’s plenum passed on Monday the controversial legislation advanced by the charedi parties that will enshrine Torah study as a fundamental value in the country’s Basic Law. The bill passed in its final readings with 63 lawmakers in favor and 52 against. Its passage comes after weeks of threats from haredi […]
Knesset passes Basic Law enshrining Torah study as fundamental state value
The law could strengthen the legal standing of Torah students against claims of inequality before the High Court of Justice. By Vered Weiss, World Israel News Israel’s Knesset passed the Basic Law: Torah Study in its second and third readings on Monday evening, enshrining Torah study as a fundamental value of the state as coalition and ultra-Orthodox parties seek to strengthen the legal position of yeshiva students and advance a future military …
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