Orthodox Parties Push Late-Session Legislation on Torah Study and Daycare Subsidies Ahead of Elections

Three weeks have passed since the Knesset began the process of dissolving itself, and contrary to expectations, the final dissolution of the Knesset has still not materialized, nor is there yet an agreed election date. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently instructed that the goal is to hold the elections as late as possible and extend the current term for as long as he can. He has cut back on contact in order to focus on security discussions, and according to sources, Netanyahu wants the elections held on October 20 or a week later, on October 26, while the ultra-Orthodox still want them on September 15. Meanwhile, Aryeh Deri now wants a new date, October 13, the day before the memorial day for Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's passing. 1 Viewing gallery Goldknopf, Gafni and Deri (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky, Yoav Dudkevitch, Amit Shabi)

Against this backdrop, the ultra-Orthodox parties have understood that in exchange for the delay Netanyahu wants, they can demand last-minute achievements from the coalition, or at least laws that would help them minimize the public damage caused by their failure throughout the term to advance the exemption-from-draft bill. Not all the laws will pass definitively, and some are intended only for campaign purposes, but some may be approved before the Knesset's final dissolution. Just yesterday, Wednesday, extremist ultra-Orthodox protesters came to Jerusalem and the Abu Kabir area of Tel Aviv and blocked roads in protest against the arrest of draft dodgers. Protests of this kind have taken place frequently in recent weeks, causing many traffic jams and heavy congestion in the afternoon on major traffic arteries. This comes as an ultra-Orthodox legislative blitz has been underway in recent days. The ultra-Orthodox are constantly raising new demands and getting their way, just to extend the term.

Yesterday, the Basic Law on Torah Study passed a preliminary reading, a law the ultra-Orthodox are advancing in order to provide a counterweight to the principle of equality, so that if an exemption-from-draft law is promoted in the future, they will be able to argue before the High Court of Justice that even if it harms equality, it is aligned with another basic principle in the state, Torah study. At first, the ultra-Orthodox demanded that the law equate Torah scholars and IDF servicemembers in terms of rights and obligations, but at the demand of Likud and Religious Zionism, the law was softened and the equality clause was arranged so that the law merely enshrines Torah study as a principle that makes a significant contribution to the state. Not everyone in the coalition supported the law. The group of opponents of the exemption law, MK Dan Illouz, Sharren Haskel and Yuli Edelstein, opposed it as well. They were joined by MK Moshe Solomon of Religious Zionism, who surprised many by opposing it, despite his faction's support for the softened version. In response to Solomon's breach of factional discipline, Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced that he was removing him from all of his positions on Knesset committees. The reason was anger that there were other faction members who also had difficulty with the law, but who aligned themselves with the faction agreements. Solomon decided to break them without prior warning.

But the Torah study law is not alone. The coalition is also advancing, for the benefit of the ultra-Orthodox, the daycare subsidy law, which circumvents the High Court and grants discounts in daycare centers to draft evaders. The law has already been approved by the Finance Committee for a first reading and is expected to advance. However, the assumption in the ultra-Orthodox parties is that the law will be struck down by the High Court. Another law that passed a first reading is the repeal of Matan Kahana's kashrut reform. Shas is demanding that the reform, which was intended to open the market to competition and challenge the monopoly of the Rabbinate and its transformation from the sole body providing kashrut into a supervisory body, be canceled in time.

Alongside the ultra-Orthodox blitz, the coalition is also continuing to advance judicial legislation, in order, as stated, to bring final achievements close to the elections for the electorate. Last night, the bill that will remove the Police Internal Investigations Department from the State Attorney's Office and subordinate it to the Justice Minister was brought for final approval in the Knesset plenum. In addition, the bill to split the attorney general's role is being advanced at a brisk pace in the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee ahead of second and third readings. First published: 00:05, 11.06.26