Between Reserve Duty and Torah Study

Attorney Yitzhak Lex explains why Religious Zionism allowed the Basic Law: Torah Study to advance in a preliminary reading, while fighting to change the clause equating Torah learners with IDF servicemembers. The Knesset plenum approved the Basic Law: Torah Study bill in a preliminary reading. It is clear that advancing a Basic Law in this area creates a broad public and legal debate, because Basic Laws stand above ordinary legislation, as their purpose is to shape Israel’s constitutional structure and value system.

Moreover, even as it was approved in a preliminary reading, voices were heard among some of my colleagues in Religious Zionism, saying that Religious Zionism had lost its moral and ethical legitimacy on the issue of enlistment, and that it no longer had the political or ethical ability to explain its vote. In my view, this is a quick and simplistic conclusion that ignores political processes, which political leadership is supposed to weigh and act upon. In this case as well, the political leadership of Religious Zionism acted with great responsibility, while balancing interests, as I will explain in this article.

Below is the wording approved in the preliminary reading:

1. Torah study is a foundational value in the heritage of the Jewish people.

2. The State of Israel, as a Jewish state, views the encouragement of Torah study and Torah scholars as a matter of supreme importance, and for the purpose of their rights and obligations, those who have undertaken to devote themselves to Torah study for an extended period shall be regarded as serving meaningful service the State of Israel and the Jewish people.

It is clear to everyone that there is no dispute over Section 1 and the opening clause of Section 2. The public debate centers on the second part of Section 2.

Religious Zionism, which sees Torah study as a central foundation of national life, found it difficult to accept wording perceived as equating devotion to Torah study with meaningful service to the state, meaning military service, especially at a time when tens of thousands of regular and reserve soldiers are bearing an enormous security burden. The objection was not to anchoring the value of Torah study itself, but to concern over the ethical and legal meaning of creating parallels between the path of those serving in the army and the path of Torah scholars.

For me, this is not a theoretical debate. I am the father of fighters who served hundreds of days in reserve duty. I know firsthand the price paid by soldiers’ families and the magnitude of the mission involved. Precisely from that place, one can say with confidence that Torah study is a treasured asset that touches on the very existence of the Jewish people, but alongside it there is a moral and ethical duty, and certainly an existential one, to preserve the status of actual service in defense of the people and the state.

In the end, in politics as in politics, in accordance with the decision of the Ministerial Committee for Legislation dated June 9, 2026, it was decided that the comparison to servicemembers in Section 2 would be removed from the bill, and a revised version would be brought for additional approval in the Ministerial Committee for Legislation before the first reading, so that there would be no direct comparison between Torah learners and army servicemembers.

In coalition politics, there is not always black and white. Often there is a need to balance values, interests, coalition commitments and timetables dictated by the Knesset session schedule. Religious Zionism opposes an enlistment law that grants blanket exemption to the ultra-Orthodox public from service, certainly during wartime and after hundreds of reserve days by broad sectors of the public. However, it is willing to allow the Basic Law: Torah Study to advance in a preliminary reading, after it was clarified that the problematic second part of Section 2 would return for discussion and be changed before the first reading.

This is a clear political balance. The ultra-Orthodox receive an initial constitutional statement regarding the status of Torah study, and Religious Zionism receives the ability to advance a series of laws important to it ahead of the elections, including the bill to split the role of the Attorney General, which is being advanced in the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee chaired by MK Simcha Rothman, and which is intended to separate the advisory, representation and prosecution powers, or at least to substantially change the structure of the existing position. This bill is in the preparation stage for its first reading, and it is one of the central laws the coalition seeks to advance before the Knesset is dissolved.

In addition, on the table are the bill to separate the Police Internal Investigations Department from the State Attorney’s Office and turn it into an independent unit in the Justice Ministry, which has already been approved by the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee for second and third readings, as well as the communications bill and the tax benefits in Judea and Samaria, which are part of the legislative package the coalition seeks to complete before the elections.

Therefore, the real story surrounding the Basic Law: Torah Study is broader than the law itself. It reflects a political deal. On one side, preserving the value of Torah study and meeting the demand of the ultra-Orthodox parties, and on the other, blocking wording that would create a sweeping value-based exemption from service, and advancing systemic legislation important to Religious Zionism and the national camp.

Let there be no doubt, as a father of fighters who served hundreds of reserve days, I will find it difficult to accept any wording that blurs or abolishes the duty to serve. At the same time, in a real political system, as in everything else in our daily lives, one must know how to balance interests. One must know how to manage struggles, block dangerous clauses, secure the necessary legislative amendments, and advance other important moves in parallel. That is how the political system works, provided that the commitment to change the second clause is indeed carried out.

The writer is chairman of the Kehilot Foundation and the father of fighters.