In a significant victory for the chareidi parties, the Knesset on Wednesday approved the proposed Basic Law: Torah Study in its first reading by a vote of 63-53. The legislation will now move to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, where it will be prepared for its second and third readings.

The vote exposed divisions within the governing coalition. Likud MKs Yuli Edelstein and Dan Illouz opposed the bill, as did Religious Zionism MK Moshe Solomon. By contrast, Likud MK Eliyahu Revivo and Religious Zionism MK Michal Waldiger voted in favor. MK Avi Maoz and MK Ahmad Tibi were absent from the vote.

Leaders of the chareidi parties welcomed the bill’s advancement, describing it as an important symbolic achievement. MK Moshe Gafni declared, “The State of the Jewish people is restoring the honor of Torah to its proper place.”

Shas chairman Aryeh Deri also praised the vote, stating, “Approval of the Basic Law: Torah Study in its first reading is the beginning of a historic correction and recognition by the State of Israel of the supreme value of Torah and the status of Torah scholars, who carry on their shoulders the spiritual existence of the Jewish people.”

Opposition leaders sharply condemned the legislation and vowed to overturn it if they return to power. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, chairman of the Beyachad party, said, “With the establishment of the new government we will repeal the Basic Law of Torah Disgrace.”

Bennett argued that “Draft evasion is the opposite of unity because draft evasion tears the nation apart from within and prevents victory. The IDF desperately needs 20,000 soldiers, and today Bibi-Deri-Smotrich’s coalition once again said that political interests are more important than security.”

Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Lieberman also denounced the bill, saying, “In order to preserve the bloc, Netanyahu is prepared to dismantle the IDF and Israeli society as a whole. The ‘Basic Law of Chillul Hashem’ will forever remain a mark of shame on the October 7 massacre coalition.”

MK Gadi Eisenkot joined the criticism, accusing the coalition of putting politics ahead of national security. “They prefer the survival of the government over the strength of the IDF.”

The current version of the legislation, revised following recommendations by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, declares Torah study to be a foundational value in the heritage of the Jewish people and in the State of Israel. Much of the committee’s deliberations centered on whether the proposal establishes a meaningful constitutional principle and what effect it could have on future judicial decisions.

Despite celebrating the bill’s passage, representatives of the chareidi parties have acknowledged that the revised language is largely declarative and does not, by itself, provide a legal framework governing the status of yeshivah students.

During committee discussions, Deputy Attorney General Avital Sompolinsky argued that the legislation has no direct connection to the yeshivah world. She stated, “The Basic Law does not address the yeshiva world, or the chareidi sector.”

According to Sompolinsky, “In its current wording, it is not directed at all toward those whose ‘Torah is their occupation’—that is, those who study Torah in yeshiva continuously as a way of life. That reference has been removed from the Basic Law.” She added that “Only a vague and general reference to Torah study as an important value remains, which must be balanced against other fundamental values, which we do not know.”

Concluding her remarks, Sompolinsky said, “There is nothing new in the Basic Law, and therefore it does not change the existing situation, nor will it assist or alter the public debate over the military draft of yeshiva students.” Her assessment echoed concerns voiced within the Torah world that, in its present form, the legislation does not provide the legal protections many had hoped it would.