In what legal experts say may be an unprecedented move in Israeli history, the Knesset’s own legal adviser has informed the High Court of Justice that the legislative process behind the law freezing the arrests of yeshiva students who failed to comply with military draft orders was fundamentally flawed.

The position was submitted Sunday in response to petitions seeking to strike down the law. While the Knesset stopped short of explicitly asking the court to invalidate the legislation, its filing effectively aligns with both the petitioners and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who have argued that the law suffers from a serious procedural defect.

The Knesset’s legal counsel argued that the legislation improperly introduced a “new subject” that was not part of the original bill, raising questions about whether the law was passed in accordance with the Knesset’s legislative rules.

The development is highly unusual because the Knesset’s legal adviser is generally expected to defend laws enacted by the legislature. If confirmed, it would mark the first time the Knesset has effectively declined to defend one of its own laws before the High Court.

The law, which temporarily froze the arrests of yeshiva bochurim classified as draft evaders, has been under intense legal and political scrutiny since its passage. Shortly after petitions were filed, the High Court effectively suspended the law’s implementation by issuing an unusually early conditional order before receiving responses from the parties.

With the petitioners, the attorney general, and now the Knesset all taking essentially the same position—and with the government declining to seek separate legal representation—the High Court may choose to cancel Tuesday’s scheduled hearing and issue a ruling striking down the law without oral arguments.

A similar procedural development occurred in December 2025, when Supreme Court President Justice Yitzchak Amit halted a hearing concerning petitions over the government’s attempt to dismiss the attorney general after the government failed to appear to defend its own decision.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)