The Masks Came Off

Israel is a rare wonder: roads blocked in major cities, hours of clashes between police and protesters who claim the state is persecuting “Torah scholars.” And almost at the same time, the Knesset approves the ultra-Orthodox camp’s central narrative, according to which “Torah scholars,” including those who merely present themselves as such, contribute no less than those who risk their lives in the ranks of the IDF. Just another weekday, amid war in the north. With the preliminary approval of the “Basic Law: Torah Study,” ultra-Orthodox politicians hailed the vote as “historic.” That may be an exaggeration, but the law, even if it ultimately does not come to fruition or is struck down by the High Court of Justice, does carry ideological weight. No Israeli, including Aryeh Deri and Yitzhak Goldknopf, could have dreamed after October 7 that the state would דווקא adopt a post-Zionist narrative. And yet, here it is, not a dream but reality, under the auspices of Likud and the Religious Zionism party.

As it heads toward a law called “historic,” like the other laws the coalition is now advancing in service of the ultra-Orthodox parties, the kashrut law and the daycare law, one should approach it first and foremost not with a historian, but with a marketing expert. Netanyahu prefers that people talk about the ultra-Orthodox, not about Iran and Lebanon, while the ultra-Orthodox politicians prefer talk of a legislative “blitz” that bore fruit, rather than their own personal failures. Deri and Gafni pulled the law out of helplessness, after all their efforts to advance the Bismuth law, or any other version of a law exempting tens of thousands from military service, failed. In an attempt to salvage some of their honor before the disappointed ultra-Orthodox street, which feels besieged, they are pouring their efforts into legislation. It should be noted: the law still has to pass second and third readings, and even then it will be brought before the High Court of Justice, but the adoption of the ultra-Orthodox narrative has value either way. The Knesset members, preparing for a tough election campaign, are showing an initial achievement before a skeptical ultra-Orthodox audience, which tends to believe the leaders of the Jerusalem Faction, who are pushing for a full confrontation with the state, more than the veteran politicians.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu’s coalition, with the exception of three rebels, has taken off the masks: no more pretending and no more sleight of hand around a “conscription law,” no more empty talk about targets and sanctions. An exemption from the outset that will deepen evasion and harm the people’s army, which is already limping. The government is signaling to an entire sector that it is exempt, and that its exemption deserves immunity from judicial review. Even after the removal of the “goat” clause, which states that yeshiva students are entitled to rights and compensation as if they were soldiers, the law still remains radical enough in its wording: the state, according to the law, will regard the learners “as having made a significant contribution to the State of Israel and the Jewish people,” and, crucially, as a Basic Law, it is meant to override judicial review. You will argue that the exemption is not equal? We will say that we complied with a Basic Law, and therefore, incidentally, all sanctions on draft evaders should also be canceled.

It is easy to understand why Shas and United Torah Judaism need this Basic Law, unlike the Religious Zionism party. No less than Deri and Gafni, Bezalel Smotrich should have understood the depth of the disconnect that developed between him and the street. A core issue like military service and Torah study could have served him to demonstrate minimal loyalty to the serving camp, to his voters. Instead, his party, including Minister Ofir Sofer, who declared time and again that he would oppose the Bismuth law, stood at attention before the orders of Gafni, Deri and Goldknopf. Instead of apologizing to the religious public that serves, Smotrich issued a statement yesterday saying that he is punishing the lone righteous man in Sodom, MK Moshe Solomon, who voted against the law.

The author is a reporter for Kan News.