In a major development for the olam haTorah, the Knesset on Tuesday gave final approval to legislation halting the arrest of yeshiva bochurim who have not reported for military service. The bill passed its second and third readings by a vote of 58-54, following a heated and emotional debate.

Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu participated in part of the Knesset deliberations but was not present for the final vote. According to sources within Likud, Netanyahu had hoped Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana would personally preside over the session, but Ohana instead delegated that responsibility to his deputy, MK Limor Son Har-Melech.

When Netanyahu entered the plenum during the debate and while lawmakers voted on several reservations to the bill, opposition members repeatedly interrupted the proceedings with chants of “shame” and “go.”

Not all coalition members supported the legislation. MK Yuli Edelstein, MK Sharren Haskel, and MK Dan Illouz of Likud, together with MK Moshe Solomon of the Religious Zionist Party, voted against the measure. Religious Zionist Party Minister Ofir Sofer and MK Michal Woldiger did not participate in the vote.

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi presented the legislation on behalf of the government and engaged in several sharp exchanges with opposition lawmakers during the debate.

As required under Knesset ethics rules, the chareidi members of Knesset disclosed during the proceedings that members of their own families could potentially be affected by the legislation.

MK Moshe Gafni, chairman of Degel HaTorah, hailed the bill’s passage as a milestone for the Torah community.

“We promised, and we delivered. This is an important step in protecting the Torah world and its students.”

Shas chairman Aryeh Deri also celebrated the vote, describing it as a historic correction of an injustice against bnei Torah.

“Today, with G-d’s help, we passed the law to end the arrests of Torah students. Today, the Knesset is sending a clear message to the dismissed attorney general: Enough persecution. Enough hatred toward Torah scholars. Who would have believed that in the Jewish state, yeshiva students, the cherished Tribe of Levi of the Jewish people, would be treated as criminals? Today, we began correcting that injustice.

“The overwhelming majority of the people of Israel love the Torah, respect its scholars, and understand that they safeguard the identity and spirit of the Jewish people. On this day, I remember the words of my teacher, Rav Ovadia Yosef, zt”l, who was deeply pained by the harm done to yeshiva students and said that the Jewish people are protected from their enemies by their Torah study. He also loved and embraced the soldiers of the IDF, who risk their lives for Israel’s security, and blessed them to return home safely. That is the way of the Torah, to embrace everyone and unite everyone. Do not allow the dismissed attorney general and those who incite to divide us. With God’s help, we will continue to prevail, together.”

Opposition parties immediately announced plans to challenge the legislation. Yisrael Beytenu and several members of Yesh Atid confirmed that they had filed a petition with Israel’s High Court of Justice seeking to overturn the newly approved law.

In their petition, Yesh Atid lawmakers argued that the legislation institutionalizes unequal treatment among Israeli citizens.

“This is what the Knesset and the government regard as their crowning achievement after four years in office and three years after the events of October 7: deepening discrimination between one citizen and another, applying one set of rules to secular, traditional, and religious Israelis subject to military service, and a different set of rules to those subject to conscription from the chareidi community.”

Opposition leader Yair Lapid sharply criticized the coalition following the vote, accusing it of abandoning both the military and the broader public.

He called the coalition a “government of refuseniks, draft dodgers, and the corrupt,” and charged that it had voted “against the IDF, against the Chief of Staff, against Judaism, and against mutual responsibility. That is how they will be remembered. Soon we will return, and together we will amend.”

{Matzav.com}