Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich are demanding that heads of Chareidi hesder yeshivos publicly support coalition bills in exchange for a major increase in government funding, Kan News reported Wednesday evening.

Netanyahu and Smotrich are demanding that the roshei yeshivos support the Basic Law on Torah study and the bill to halt the arrest of draft evaders. In return, the yeshivos would receive a major boost through a government decision that would double the budgets allocated to them.

At the same time, the coalition came to understand that the Basic Law on Torah study was creating a problem following comments by Knesset Legal Adviser Adv. Sagit Afik, who said the law would equate benefits for IDF servicemen with benefits for Torah learners. A new version was then drafted with legal backing.

Under the new wording, the phrase “scales of justice” would be removed, so that Israel would recognize the value of Torah study as an important value, while removing the section that places it on the scales against other values, in order to avoid a comparison between Torah learners and those serving in the IDF.

The Chareidi parties read the new version and were outraged, and as a result the negotiations blew up Tuesday night. From their perspective, it amounted to a violation of the understandings that had been reached.

The part that placed the value of Torah study on the scales was a central part of the law they wanted to advance, specifically because of the comparison to those serving in the military. Because of that, the new draft was shelved, and by Wednesday morning the coalition presented a different clause dealing with the status of combat soldiers, a clause that the Chareidi parties are also opposing for now.

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