Israeli Legal Advisor Warns Knesset on Major Flaws in Draft Law Freezing Arrests of Torah Students

The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee continued its discussions on Wednesday regarding a proposed law to freeze arrests of Torah students, a bill separated from the broader conscription law. The focus was on the critical legal opinion presented by Knesset Legal Advisor Adv. Shagit Afik, who sharply criticized the significant changes made to the bill during the committee's work. Afik stated that the current draft differs fundamentally from the version developed over dozens of meetings, noting that "the text formulated after 86 sessions was effectively replaced by a completely different arrangement." She added that the new arrangement "barely aligns with the original law's objectives."

Afik explained that although circumstances changed during the discussions, possibly creating new needs, the proper response would be a dedicated new bill rather than altering the original proposal's content. She warned that the new arrangement was essentially "grafted onto the framework of the previous text," partly due to time constraints before the Knesset's term ends. This, she said, harms not only procedural integrity but also the substantive legislative process, as replacing the original arrangement with a wholly different one undermines parliamentary procedure.

Furthermore, Afik emphasized that the Knesset cannot legislate only partial aspects of the issue while leaving key matters, such as sanction mechanisms, unaddressed. Regarding enforcement and oversight mechanisms proposed, she noted longstanding claims about the absence of effective enforcement tools in this area, making it a "difficult challenge" to develop such mechanisms within just three months under a temporary provision.

Afik urged the committee to obtain a full factual basis justifying the new arrangement, confirm a real and immediate need, and ensure the proposal is supported by sufficient data. She warned that advancing only the limited current arrangement would erase all prior committee work on the issue, and continuity could not be applied to previous drafts. Consequently, the next Knesset would have to restart the conscription law discussions from scratch.