Contentious Basic Law on Torah study, aimed at shielding draft evaders, passes 1st reading

Four coalition MKs vote against legislation, which has been sharply criticized by legal authorities; opposition politicians vow to cancel law if they form next government

The Knesset voted 63-53 on Wednesday to advance a highly controversial Basic Law declaring Torah study a foundational value of the State of Israel, following a lengthy and heated debate in the plenum.

Sponsored by ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism lawmakers MKs Moshe Gafni and Yaakov Asher, and backed by the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, the measure is intended to shield draft evaders from sanctions and prosecution. Absent a constitution, Basic Laws in Israel have the highest legal status in the country.

The proposed Basic Law passed its first reading on Wednesday, and will now return to the Knesset House Committee for further deliberation before advancing to the plenum for two final votes that would pass it into law.

The bill forms part of the Haredi parties’ broader legislative push to preserve mass exemptions for yeshiva students from military service by elevating the status of Torah study. There is a parallel measure to shield current draft evaders from criminal enforcement. A coalition-backed enlistment bill promoted by Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Boaz Bismuth was shelved in May amid an impasse between the ultra-Orthodox parties and members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition.

The coalition briefly pulled the Basic Law: Torah Study legislation from the Knesset agenda earlier Wednesday without explanation, then restored it several hours later. There  had been last-minute internal coalition opposition, including from lawmakers of the ruling Likud and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party, raising questions over whether the coalition had sufficient support to advance it.

The bill was rushed through the Knesset House Committee this week in three marathon sessions, despite sharp objections from legal authorities who asserted that both the substance of the legislation and the legislative process were deeply flawed. The coalition has been seeking to pass the bill into law before the Knesset is expected to dissolve and enter its pre-election recess on July 17.

The proposal has drawn fierce opposition, including from within the coalition, with critics arguing that the measure is a transparent attempt to circumvent High Court rulings requiring the enlistment of ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students by legislatively entrenching Torah study as a national value to shield draft evaders from sanctions and prosecution.

Four coalition MKs voted against the measure, as they did during the preliminary reading last month: Likud MKs Dan Illouz and Yuli Edelstein, Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel and Religious Zionism MK Moshe Solomon.

All four lawmakers have long opposed efforts to preserve broad military service exemptions for yeshiva students. Edelstein was ousted last year as chair of the powerful Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, and replaced with Bismuth, for refusing to advance draft-exemption legislation.

“There are many ways to elevate the status of Torah. Controversial legislation introduced for a purpose that runs counter to the very fulfillment of Torah is not one of them,” said Solomon in a post following the vote.

Ilouz said that the Likud party “is supposed to be a Zionist party that represents a public that serves, sends its children into battle, and serves in the reserves,” arguing that “the law’s sole purpose is to continue granting benefits to a public that does not serve under the guise of ‘Torah study.'”

Opposition party leaders slammed the bill, with Together party leader Naftali Bennett vowing to rescind the law “immediately” if he forms the next government following a national election in the fall.

Yashar party chair Gadi Eisenkot said, “Torah study is an important value in the State of Israel, but it cannot be used as a political cover for neglecting the mission of defending the state.”

Yisrael Beytenu chair Avigdor Liberman charged that “in order to protect his bloc, Netanyahu is ready to disassemble the IDF and the entire Israeli society.”

The Democrats chair Yair Golan also vowed the bill would be canceled, adding that the “working and serving public will stop being suckers who carry the Haredim on their backs.”

The Knesset’s legal advisers and the Attorney General’s Office have strongly criticized the legislation, arguing that it raises fundamental constitutional questions that remain unresolved, including its purpose and legal implications, and warning that it should not advance before those issues are addressed.

They also criticized the decision to prepare a Basic Law in the House Committee rather than the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, where such legislation would typically be discussed, calling the accelerated process inappropriate.

The legislative push came after a series of mass Haredi demonstrations over the arrests of draft dodgers, who have blocked traffic and targeted police and judges in recent weeks.

It also follows reports that Netanyahu reached an agreement with Shas and United Torah Judaism to advance key Haredi legislative priorities in exchange for supporting coalition initiatives, although both parties have denied that such a deal exists.

The dispute between the ultra-Orthodox parties and Netanyahu is rooted in a fierce, years-long national debate over the blanket exemptions from military service that have long been given to Haredi men.

Calls for Haredi conscription have mounted as Israel has fought a multifront war since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, invasion and massacre, while facing a growing manpower shortage. The IDF has repeatedly said it urgently needs 12,000 more recruits, and IDF Chief-of-Staff Eyal Zamir has reportedly warned ministers that the army will “collapse in on itself” if it does not get more manpower.

Some 80,000 ultra-Orthodox men aged between 18 and 24 are currently believed to be eligible for military service, but have not enlisted.

Ultra-Orthodox parties have sought to preserve the military service exemptions following a 2024 High Court ruling that found them unconstitutional, leading some state benefits to be curtailed.