Knesset panel to debate Basic Law on Torah study after procedural vote

The Knesset House Committee on Monday approved a request by Constitution Committee chairman MK Simcha Rothman to move the debate on the proposed Basic Law: Torah Study to the House Committee, citing an unusually heavy agenda and time constraints. The bill was submitted by United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni, who wants to entrench Torah study in Basic Law as a core value of Jewish heritage and recognize long-term Torah learners as performing a meaningful service to the state and the Jewish people.

Knesset legal adviser Adv. Sagit Afik opposed the transfer, saying the Constitution Committee is the authorized forum for basic laws and the fundamental issues raised by the proposal. She said, “Pressure and workload do not override the need for proper legislative procedure,” warning that the move “raises a real difficulty that could cast a shadow over the integrity of the legislative process.”

Gafni argued that the issue is a broad public matter that justifies discussion in the House Committee. Expressing frustration with the coalition, he said, “I am sick and tired of promises. There were commitments and in the end it turned out there was no majority. I am not going to go through this humiliation again.”

Opposition lawmakers attacked the bill during the session. MK Pnina Tamano-Shata said, “You are mixing Torah with politics,” while MK Mickey Levy called it effectively a “draft evasion law” and referred to shortages in the IDF’s manpower. House Committee chairman MK Ofir Katz noted that the version approved by the ministerial legislative committee no longer contains an explicit comparison between Torah scholars and IDF soldiers. The request passed 8 to 4.