The Knesset on Monday night approved the Basic Law: Torah Study in its second and third readings by a vote of 63-52. The law declares that “Torah study is a fundamental value in the heritage of the Jewish people and the State of Israel.”
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu did not participate in the vote. Likud MKs Dan Illouz and Yuli Edelstein, who recently announced they are leaving the party, voted against the legislation.
Ahead of the vote, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, Gadi Eisenkot, Naftali Bennett, Avigdor Liberman, Yair Golan, along with Chili Tropper and Yoaz Hendel, issued a joint statement calling on coalition lawmakers to vote against the bill. “We call on coalition members to act responsibly and not vote in favor of seriously harming the IDF during wartime, in direct contradiction to the Chief of Staff’s dramatic warning,” they wrote. They added that “the list of those supporting the draft exemption law will forever remain before the eyes of the citizens of Israel who serve and work.”
According to the report, Benny Gantz was asked to join the statement but declined and instead issued a separate statement.
The Movement for Quality Government announced that it will petition the High Court against the law, arguing that “behind this innocent-sounding name lies an attempt to insert draft exemptions into Israel’s Basic Laws in order to circumvent High Court rulings on equality in sharing the burden.” The organization added that the law “was born out of a political deal, enacted hastily and without meaningful public debate, and seeks to institutionalize permanent discrimination.”
Last week, the coalition agreed to significantly soften the legislation so that it would be declarative in nature and would not equate the legal rights of Torah learners with those serving in the IDF. The final version contains only the provision stating that “Torah study is a fundamental value in the heritage of the Jewish people.”
However, senior officials in Israel’s legal establishment told Kan News that, despite the changes, they do not believe the law is merely declarative. According to the report, they argue the legislation is intended to constrain the courts, government legal advisers, and government ministries by creating a new Basic Law that could later be used to justify budget allocations, halt the arrest of Chareidi draft evaders, and support exemptions from military service.
The report adds that disagreement remains within the coalition over which bill will be brought to the Knesset floor next. Chareidi parties are demanding legislation preventing the arrest of draft evaders, while Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich insists that agreements first be reached on the full package of legislation expected to be voted on this week.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
4 Responses
1. The Supreme Court gets to decide what the law means. Expect no more than something such as “soldiers who want to learn Torah should be allowed to get to shul an hour early to learn before davening”.
2. They might also agree to have an exhibit in the national museum on what learning Torah was like before it was banned (cf: American exhibits on colonial life, or a Soviet exhibit on Czarist Russia).
This is a great moment that the Jewish state officially acknowledges Torah (if Torah learning is a value, kal vehomer Torah is). Hopefully, it will unleash multitudes of learners in all corners of Israel and quiet those people who claim that the country is not recognizing Torah.
Pirkei Avos instructs us not to make Torah a spade (tool with no intrinsic value other than it’s function) to dig with.
A round of applause to the chareidi parties who have done just that.
You know, if the law was to make Kiyum haTorah a value of the state, that would have been a real accomplishment, and would have had influence in providing a “constitutional” basis for all the laws that are religiously inspired – things like Kashrus, Shmiras Shabbos, and other laws that “restrict individual freedom”. This would be as under constitutional principles, if there are two “Basic Laws” that are in conflict, the requirements of the two need to be balanced – and a basic law on Kiyum haTorah would help offset some of the “individual freedom” Basic Laws that already exist.
The flip side, and very likely the reason the Chareidi parties did not want such a law, is that it could also be used against them – after all, the Rambam and the Rema explicitly state that when Jews are in danger, ALL JEWS go out even on Shabbos to defend them, with the Rambam referring to it as a “Mitzvah”. And if there’s a Basic Law calling for Kiyum haTorah, these Halacha leMa’aseh Piskei Halacha could be used to force the draft of Chareidim.
It’s a bear when Halacha as written is actually applied, despite one’s best efforts to avoid it, isn’t it???
an Israeli Yid