A new version of the conscription bill being prepared by MK Boaz Bismuth, chairman of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, seeks to raise enlistment numbers among bnei yeshiva who are not learning full-time, while ensuring that those who dedicate themselves fully to Torah will be able to continue doing so.
According to Communications Minister Shlomo Karchi, the proposal reflects a growing consensus in Israel that “those who learn will continue to learn, and those who do not will enlist.” Speaking to Radio Kol Barama, Karhi said the arrangement would both “benefit the defense establishment” and “uphold the honor of lomdei Torah.”
Karchi added that the law would finally “put an end to the harassment of Torah students’ families by the former attorney general and her emissaries,” asserting that “they don’t actually want to draft the chareidim.”
On Thursday, MK Bismuth submitted the draft outline to Miri Frenkel Shor, the committee’s legal adviser. According to Hebrew media reports, the outline proposes that within five years, half of the annual chareidi draft cohort would be enlisted, while the age of exemption would remain at 26.
The plan also lays out a gradual system of enforcement. Yeshiva funding would only be reduced if draft quotas are not met for a full year, and personal sanctions would take effect only after two years of noncompliance. The proposal further specifies that individuals would not lose their driver’s licenses, though restrictions could apply when issuing new ones to those who evade enlistment.
The bill remains under deliberation in committee, as lawmakers work to balance Israel’s security requirements with the need to safeguard Torah learning and protect the kedushah of the yeshivos.
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“The bill remains under deliberation in committee, as lawmakers work to balance Israel’s security requirements with the need to safeguard Torah learning and protect the kedushah of the yeshivos.”
This is sheker. Israel’s “security requirements” would be even less if the wicked Zionists stopped harassing and shmading the Jews.
Rather, what they are attempting to balance is how many Jews they can shmad in their army without Jews worldwide protesting against them as is happening today in NYC.