Israeli opposition figures on Thursday accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of legalizing draft evasion by ultra-Orthodox Jews, or Haredim, after the Knesset gave preliminary approval to a bill granting Torah study special constitutional status, according to local media.
The bill would enshrine Torah study as a "fundamental value" in Israel and Jewish society and grant it constitutional status, the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported Wednesday.
The bill passed its first reading Wednesday by 63-53 votes and still requires second and third readings before becoming law.
Former Israeli army chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, who heads the Yashar party, said on the US social media platform X that “The attempt to turn draft evasion into a Basic Law is a direct assault on our national backbone.”
Haredi parties say the legislation is intended to provide broader legal protection for religious schools and their students amid a dispute over Haredi military service following court rulings that canceled longstanding arrangements allowing exemptions or deferments.
According to The Times of Israel, the bill is part of a broader legislative effort by Haredi parties to preserve mass exemptions for yeshiva students by elevating the status of Torah study, alongside separate legislation intended to shield current draft evaders from criminal enforcement.
“While the burden on those who serve is breaking records and the price they pay is unbearably heavy, the coalition chooses to create a bypass route for evasion,” Eisenkot, who recently announced plans to run in the next election, said.
Since Oct. 8, 2023, Israel has been waging attacks on several regional fronts, continuing its genocide in Gaza, launching wars on Lebanon and Iran, carrying out strikes on Yemen and Qatar, and conducting near-daily ground incursions into Syria.
“Studying Torah is an important value in the State of Israel, but it cannot serve as a political cover for abandoning the mission of defending the state,” Eisenkot said.
Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, leader of the Together party, also criticized the bill, writing on the US social media platform X: “Immediately upon the establishment of the new government, we will repeal the Basic Law: Denigration of the Torah.”
“The law will disappear, but the mark of shame on the wretched Knesset members who supported it will remain,” Bennett said.
“The [army] desperately needs 20,000 soldiers, and today the Bibi-Deri-Smotrich coalition said once again that political interests are more important than security,” he added.
Yedioth Ahronoth said several members of the governing coalition opposed the bill, including Moshe Solomon of the Religious Zionism party and Dan Illouz and Yuli Edelstein of Netanyahu’s Likud party.
The newspaper said Haredi parties demanded Netanyahu take part in the vote to secure a majority exceeding 61 lawmakers in the 120-seat Knesset, strengthening the bill’s position if challenged before the Supreme Court.
Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of the genocidal war crimes in Gaza, attended the vote after leaving a public event.
Yedioth Ahronoth said Netanyahu reached understandings with Haredi party leaders to advance several bills they demand, including the Basic Law on Torah study and a bill preventing the arrest of draft evaders.
In return, the Haredi parties would support steps sought by Netanyahu, including forming a political inquiry committee into the events of Oct. 7, 2023, dividing the powers of the attorney general and arrangements related to the timing of the next election.
Haredim make up about 13% of Israel’s population, which exceeds 10 million. They reject military service on the grounds of full-time Torah study, saying integration into secular society threatens their religious identity.
For decades, Haredi men avoided conscription at age 18 through repeated deferments for religious study until reaching the exemption age, currently 26.
But in June 2024, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that Haredim must be drafted into the military and ordered the suspension of state funding for religious institutions whose students refuse enlistment.
*Writing by Lina Altawell in Istanbul
