Senior officials in the Degel HaTorah faction clarified Thursday morning that no instruction has been issued by leading gedolim to oppose the draft legislation currently under discussion. On the contrary, they said they have been directed to continue working vigorously toward an agreed-upon law that would regulate the status of yeshiva students and bring an end to their arrests.

According to senior figures in the party, “There is no directive from the leading rabbinic authorities to oppose the law being discussed at this time. On the contrary, they have instructed us to proceed with negotiations with the Knesset’s legal advisers in an effort to reach legislation that will be acceptable to them and withstand scrutiny by the High Court of Justice.”

They added that other political factions are attempting to derail the process. “There are elements in other parties trying to do everything possible to halt the legislation. They are the ones briefing and speaking in the name of Litvishe rabbonim despite having no connection to them, and they are working forcefully to sabotage the bill’s passage.”

Sources close to Hagaon Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch emphasized Wednesday night that the fundamental position remains unchanged. “Nothing has shifted in the principled stance that the draft law must be legislated and that the status of yeshiva students must be regulated. The instruction to Degel HaTorah’s Knesset members is to continue advancing the legislation.”

Similarly, associates of Hagaon Rav Dov Landau said Thursday morning, “We are continuing efforts to reach a law that will stop the arrest of yeshiva students. This is the most urgent issue for the rosh yeshiva. Sanctions are a secondary matter in importance.”

Despite ongoing talks, senior chareidi lawmakers acknowledged overnight that negotiations with the Knesset’s legal advisory team are not progressing smoothly. “Although we are trying to be flexible with the legal advisers and have agreed that sanctions would take effect immediately, there are still gaps and disagreements,” one senior figure said. “The primary sticking point concerns the question of oversight over Torah learners. It is unclear whether, at the end of the process, we will reach a bill that can pass second and third readings.”

The debate comes amid heightened tensions following the arrest of yeshiva students in recent days. At a special gathering held at Yeshivas Maor HaTalmud after the arrest of Reb Avraham Ben Dayan several months after his wedding, Rav Landau issued a forceful declaration that no yeshiva student would enlist in the army under any framework.

“The entire Jewish world is shocked by the criminal act in which wicked authorities imprisoned in a military jail an outstanding Torah scholar who has nothing in his world but the four cubits of halacha, and this solely because of his desire to learn Torah,” Rav Landau said. “But the dear scholar has merited that, through him, there is such a great awakening to Torah study in public. Merit is brought about through the meritorious — apparently he has great merits.”

“While he sits behind walls and bars, bound in iron chains, the voice of Torah that grows stronger as a result of his imprisonment echoes from one end of the world to the other, shattering walls of falsehood, breaking chains of wickedness, reaching the Heavenly Throne and giving voice to the cry of the Bnei Yisroel from the distress of their oppressors and pursuers.”

“The Torah world is now undergoing severe persecution from misguided brothers. The fears are heavy and widely shared. Their schemes are no longer hidden but carried out openly, and their entire aim is to eradicate the Torah world, God forbid.”

“To those who plot evil and scheme wickedness, who seek to break our spirit and steal the treasure of our world, we say clearly: Do not imagine that you will succeed! In complete contrast to you, we are people of noble spirit. Our hands will not do harm, and we do not wish to use your tools of strife. But know that standing against Torah learners is a war against the eternity of Israel.”

“History is filled with those who sought to make Torah forgotten from Yisroel. They passed and vanished from the world, their names forgotten and their rule gone like a fleeting shadow. But the Torah stands forever. You cannot break those whose lives are spirit alone. Your time and your rule will pass, but we will continue to cling to our eternal Torah, the Torah of Hashem. There is no one who can stand against the Torah of Hashem, against Torah learners, or against the halls of Torah. Jailers may imprison the body, but there is no power in the world that can imprison the spirit.”

“We hereby declare in a loud voice: Whether the authorities agree or not, not even one married scholar, not even one yeshiva student, will go to the army — not in this way and not in any other way,” Rav Landau emphasized. “The place of Torah learners is exclusively within the halls of the yeshivos and kollelim. Let everyone know — whether they understand it or not — this is the reality. So it was, and so it will be.”

He concluded, “May it be the will of Hashem that the emissaries of the Torah world who have been imprisoned be released swiftly from darkness to light, and may we all merit every good, to learn Torah in quiet and tranquility.”

{Matzav.com}