The Knesset House Committee voted on Tuesday to advance the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties' controversial bill that seeks to enshrine Torah Study in the country's Basic Law ahead of its first reading in the plenum.
The Basic Law: Torah Study bill is part of a proposal that critics argue encourages draft evasion and changes the status of yeshiva students who do not serve, enabling them to continue receiving state benefits.
The legislation was approved by the panel with ten lawmakers in favor and four against, though aspects of it have been required to undergo revision.
The bill is scheduled to be brought before the Knesset plenum on already on Wednesday for its first reading, Degal Hatorah leader MK Moshe Gafni stated.
Deputy Attorney-General Avital Sompolinsky warned the panel against advancing the legislation.
"It is impossible to proceed to a first reading before we answer the question of what the purpose of the law is," she said.
"Based on what the bill's sponsors have said during these discussions, the law stems from the perception that the place of the haredi community in Israeli society is not balanced."
"If that is the case, we are dealing with a different issue that requires further discussion on matters such as rights and obligations," she said.
United Torah Judaism leader MK Yizhak Goldknopf made controversial remarks during the meeting in which he stated that Torah students were being turned into Nukhba terrorists, sparking outrage from opposition lawmakers.
The committee approval came after three days of marathon meetings were held to fast-track the legislation.
The approval also came after the haredi parties continued to boycott coalition voting to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition to advance the legislation.
The bill passed its preliminary reading earlier this month and must still undergo three more required readings to take effect.
Israel does not have a constitution, and instead has a series of Knesset-legislated basic laws on various subjects that hold a high legal status.
Critics argue the bill would support draft evaders
The bill to enshrine Torah study in Basic Law is also part of a series of bills being advanced by the haredi parties that critics argue would support haredi draft evaders during the IDF’s severe manpower crisis.
The most recent proposal being advanced is a bill that would temporarily freeze the arrests of haredi draft evaders, which was also debated for the first time on Tuesday in the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
The government has presented its stance that arresting yeshiva students who evade military service has undermined efforts to encourage broader enlistment among haredi men.
Critics of the legislation have argued that the bill is a poltical solution to appease the haredi parties, and that it lacks balance as it freezes arrests of draft evaders without including any sections to impose sanctions on them.
Brig.-Gen. Shai Tayeb, head of the IDF's Human Resources Planning and Management Division, argued against the government’s stance, stating that "enforcement measures, including arrests" against haredi draft evaders were necessary and that until now they have been effective.
“Since the beginning of the war, there has been a steady upward trend in the number of enlistments,” he added.
Degel Torah, Shas leaders say Netanyahu promised to advance legislation quickly
Last week, leaders of Degel Hatorah and Shas, MKs Moshe Gafni and Arye Deri, released a joint statement saying they held a meeting with Netanyahu.
The two stated that the prime minister had “made it clear at the meeting that he is committed to approving the laws and will work to advance them quickly.”
Subsequently, on Thursday, the marathon meetings were set to advance the Basic Law: Torah Study bill.
The haredi parties have encouraged the coalition to advance legislation that would not increase haredi enlistment. The IDF has repeatedly warned of an urgent manpower shortage after more than two years of war.
In April, the High Court of Justice ordered that the state take concrete steps to revoke key financial benefits from draft evaders and to move toward criminal enforcement against haredi men who evade military service.
In March, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir said the IDF could soon collapse if no solution was found for the manpower shortage.
The tensions also come amid the coalition’s last Knesset session to advance its legislation before the upcoming elections, scheduled for no later than October 27.