Four Coalition MKs Rebel as Knesset Erupts Over Basic Law on Torah Study

The Knesset plenum approved the Basic Law: Torah Study despite protests from four coalition MKs. Following opposition from two Likud MKs, chaos broke out in the plenum and MKs were removed. Opposition lawmakers accused Arab parties of making a deal with the Haredim and called the bill a “desecration of the Torah.” Shas chairman Aryeh Deri welcomed it as “a historic step toward recognition by the State of Israel of the supreme value of the holy Torah.” Naftali Bennett appealed to the Haredim, saying, “The law will gravely harm the state.”

The Knesset plenum approved today, Wednesday, by a majority of 56 in favor and 43 against the Basic Law: Torah Study proposed by MKs Moshe Gafni and Yaakov Asher. During the vote, four coalition MKs voted against the bill together with the opposition, MKs Yuli Edelstein and Dan Illouz of Likud, Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel, and Moshe Solomon of Religious Zionism. In response to Illouz’s vote, Shas MKs shouted at him and were removed from him. Opposition MKs who disrupted the vote were also removed from the plenum.

In addition, against the backdrop of the Arab MKs’ absence from the vote, opposition figures told N12: “The Arab parties closed a deal with the Haredim and did not come to the vote. They were promised that Ben Gvir’s muezzin law would be blocked.”

During the debate, MK Gafni said that “the current reality will continue forever,” and presented the bill. Opposition leader Yair Lapid responded: “Does the Torah of Israel need a political fix? This is not a bill about Torah, this is a bill about money.” Lapid added that Gafni had mentioned the Warsaw Ghetto uprising in his remarks and attacked him: “My father sat in the ghetto because there was no army for the State of Israel! My grandfather died in a concentration camp because there was no army for the State of Israel! This law is a law to finance shirking.”

According to the explanatory notes to the bill, it seeks to enshrine in a Basic Law the status of Torah study as a foundational value in the heritage of the Jewish people. It also proposes that the State of Israel recognize those who commit themselves to Torah study for an extended period as performing significant service for the state and the Jewish people. In practice, the bill would grant Torah learners a special constitutional status that would deepen inequality in military service.

Shas chairman Aryeh Deri said, “The approval in the preliminary reading of the Basic Law: Torah Study, which was demanded by the Shas movement, is a historic step toward recognition by the State of Israel of the supreme value of the holy Torah and the tremendous contribution of Torah scholars to the Jewish people. The Torah is the secret of our existence as a Jewish people, and it has preserved the Jewish people throughout the generations. The Shas faction will continue to act decisively until the legislation is completed and the Torah and its learners are granted the respect they deserve.”

United Torah Judaism chairman MK Yitzhak Goldknopf said, “Today’s vote on the Basic Law: Torah Study, which passed in the preliminary reading, is the beginning of correcting a four-year injustice, during which the world of Torah has been subjected to harsh persecution. The law that passed is expected to restore in a Jewish state the proper respect for the status of yeshiva students and kollel students, who sustain the world through their study.”

Yesh Atid chairman Naftali Bennett addressed the Haredi public after the law was approved: “My Haredi brothers and sisters, I love and respect you. The Basic Law: Torah Study that the government is promoting with all its strength and has now already passed in the preliminary reading will gravely harm the State of Israel, and it will also gravely harm you. This is not a political issue, it is a matter of life and death. We need you with us, without you we will not be here, neither we nor you.”

Yisrael Beiteinu chairman MK Avigdor Liberman responded: “Read my lips. We will cancel all your Basic Laws of shirking, not a trace of them will remain!”

MK Meir Porush of United Torah Judaism said, “The people of Israel do not need laws to recognize that Torah study is a foundational value in the Jewish people. Unfortunately, because of the vicious conduct of the justice system and the systematic persecution over several years against Torah learners, we were forced to correct this with the Basic Law: Torah Study bill. We required the bill in the coalition agreements before the government was formed, and better late than, God forbid, never. United Torah Judaism will continue to fight with all the tools at its disposal against the persecution of Torah learners and expects the coalition and the government to act against this persecution.”

Yesh Atid leader Gadi Eisenkot responded: “The deal of a few more weeks in power in exchange for the Basic Law: Torah Study is a summary of the history of the most detached, most irresponsible, and most shameless government. Instead of strengthening the IDF in a total war, the government is doing the opposite and harming the strength and spirit of the state. The October 7 coalition has no respect for the lives of Israelis or for their security, and it does not have public trust.”

Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz said: “The Basic Law: Torah Study is not ‘good news’ for the world of Torah, but a disgrace. I am in favor of Torah study, which is why I voted against the Basic Law: Torah Study. It is a law that is entirely a cover for shirking and contradicts the Torah. Because the Torah I learned from the late Rabbi Druckman in Or Etzion teaches enlistment and defending my people. Whoever wants to continue supporting the people of Israel and Torah study needs to enlist for our people. That is the only solution, and that is what will happen.”

Yoez Hendel, chairman of the Reservists Party, said: “The Law of Desecrating the Torah that passed today in the Knesset is a desecration of everything sacred here. Generations of builders of the land, endless sacrifice, and hundreds of thousands of reservists. A desecration of the command to go out to a mandated war. With the help of the anti-Zionist Haredi and Arab parties, they harmed the sanctities of Judaism and Zionism. This is a watershed moment. Whoever studied Torah and does not report for war has not understood what he learned. Thousands of Torah learners who serve prove that there is no justification for shirking.”