A heated debate over the military draft of bnei yeshivah erupted Thursday in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, as MK Yaakov Asher sharply criticized the committee’s legal advisers, accusing them of creating a legal crisis that has effectively turned tens of thousands of law-abiding Torah students into criminals.

The United Torah Judaism lawmaker focused his remarks on the dramatic increase in the number of bnei yeshivah now classified as draft evaders, arguing that the situation is the direct result of legal decisions rather than legislative action.

“Until two years ago, there were 15,000 draft evaders across the entire country. Today there are already 90,000, and your heavy hand continues,” Asher charged, blaming the committee’s legal advisers. He argued that instead of supporting temporary legislation while lawmakers worked toward a permanent solution, legal authorities chose a path that criminalized thousands of bnei yeshivah.

Expressing outrage over the new legal reality, Asher said, “How can you treat them as though they are ordinary draft evaders? These are law-abiding citizens whose only ‘offense’ is studying Torah. In a single day, you turned 90,000 people into lawbreakers.”

His comments came as Israel’s defense establishment and legal authorities continue pressing for full enforcement of the draft laws against bnei yeshivah. The committee’s legal advisers recently issued a strongly worded opinion opposing proposed legislation that would temporarily suspend arrests of those obligated to enlist, arguing that the bill, in its current form, “goes beyond its original purpose” and effectively amounts to “an amnesty provision for draft evaders.”

Asher also drew a historical comparison, arguing that earlier constitutional legislation was passed without the level of specificity now being demanded regarding Torah study.

“At the time, Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty and the Freedom of Occupation Law were enacted. Those laws were drafted in broad language without spelling out exactly what they covered or how they applied,” he said. He noted that the legislation passed by a vote of just 34 to 24 near the close of a Knesset session, “literally at the last moment.”

The confrontation highlighted the widening divide between the chareidi parties and Israel’s legal establishment. While legal advisers contend that the proposed legislation would encourage future draft-age yeshivah students to ignore military service requirements, chareidi lawmakers argue that the current approach undermines the right to Torah study and overturns the longstanding status quo.

The dispute comes amid the continuing war and growing public pressure to increase military enlistment. At the same time, some defense officials have cautioned that arresting bnei yeshivah could ultimately prove counterproductive by discouraging voluntary enlistment among members of the chareidi community.

As lawmakers continue debating possible legislation, thousands of bnei yeshivah remain in legal limbo. They continue learning Torah as generations before them have done, yet many are now officially classified as draft evaders or deserters under existing law.

As previously reported by Matzav.com, roshei yeshivah and roshei kollelim have issued special guidance in recent months instructing bochurim and avreichim to carefully maintain their status as yeshivah students so they will qualify under any future draft legislation. The directives also warned that, absent new legislation, most students would be unable to leave Israel.

{Matzav.com}