The heads of Israel’s Chareidi Hesder Yeshivas have issued a public appeal to Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu, calling for an immediate one-year suspension of the arrests of yeshiva students while the government works toward a long-term solution to the military draft dispute.

In a letter sent Wednesday to Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yisroel Katz, and Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Boaz Bismuth, the yeshiva leaders urged the government to enact a temporary one-year measure that would halt the arrests and create an opportunity to formulate a lasting arrangement regarding military service and Torah study.

Unlike several proposals raised in recent days that focused exclusively on stopping the arrests of yeshiva students—and were quickly rejected by both coalition and opposition figures—the yeshiva leaders outlined a broader framework. Their proposal combines a one-year freeze on arrests with a significant expansion of military and national service tracks tailored to the Chareidi community, along with an increase in enlistment to those programs. According to the authors, the combination of these elements would give the plan a much stronger legal foundation.

The letter argues that blaming the Chareidi leadership alone for the ongoing crisis does not accurately reflect reality. The rabbis wrote that repeated efforts over the past decade to regulate the status of yeshiva students have failed due to shortcomings on multiple fronts, including the judicial system, political leadership, the Israel Defense Forces, and the broader security establishment.

The yeshiva leaders also warned that the current wave of arrests is actually harming efforts to encourage greater Chareidi participation in military service. They contend that trust cannot be built while yeshiva students continue to face detention and legal action.

As part of their proposal, they are calling for a nationwide initiative to expand service opportunities during the one-year suspension period. Among their recommendations is a goal of tripling enrollment in Chareidi Hesder Yeshivas within a year, supported by dedicated government funding.

They also propose significantly expanding service tracks designed for Chareidim within the military, police, emergency services, and local defense organizations. In addition, they advocate creating accelerated enlistment programs for older men who never previously served, integrating them into reserve-duty frameworks, and launching a broad public campaign encouraging participation in service options compatible with the Chareidi way of life.

According to the letter, the objective of the proposed year-long pause is to create practical conditions that would allow a Chareidi young man who wishes to do so to combine serious Torah study with contributing to Israel’s security needs, without being forced to choose one over the other.

The rabbis also called on lawmakers to use the temporary period to finalize a broadly accepted draft law that would both protect the status of full-time Torah scholars and establish clear pathways for those seeking to combine Torah study with military or national service.

The letter concludes with an appeal for national unity and swift action.

“The Jewish people need unity, responsibility, the preservation of the Torah world, and the safeguarding of Israel’s security at this time—not another division within the camp,” the rabbis wrote.

{Matzav.com}