Legal Counsel Criticizes Draft Law Freezing Draft Evasion Arrests as Unfair Discrimination

The legal counsel of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee issued a critical opinion on a proposed law aimed at freezing the arrests of draft-evading ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students. The opinion states that the current draft lacks essential balancing mechanisms and fails to adequately address the goal of combining the importance of Torah study with reducing inequality in military service burdens. The draft law proposes a temporary "freeze on arrests" exclusively for yeshiva students, effectively granting them a sectoral exemption from Israel's Security Service Law obligations.

The legal counsel highlighted the absence of key provisions such as recruitment targets, revocation of benefits, budget cuts for yeshivas, tailored service tracks, and proper oversight of students continuing their studies. Without these, the draft law amounts to a clear exemption for a defined population group from legal military service duties, which violates constitutional standards and the principle of equality before the law, amounting to unlawful discrimination.

Last week, Channel 13 revealed coalition leaders had engaged with heads of Hesder yeshivas (which combine religious study and military service) to draft a renewed law that would also encourage Haredi enlistment through budgetary incentives for institutions that promote recruitment. Under the proposed mechanism, the IDF Chief of Staff would establish a committee within seven days of the law’s enactment to review the status of yeshiva students. Candidates seeking to freeze proceedings against them must submit personal affidavits and confirmation from their yeshiva head verifying their study status.

While the committee reviews the case, no criminal proceedings for draft evasion would be initiated or continued, and any ongoing cases would be suspended. These protections do not apply if the candidate fails to submit the required affidavits within 30 days of the law’s start. If the committee finds the conditions unmet after hearing the candidate’s arguments, the protections would be revoked.

The legal counsel’s opinion underscores the need for accompanying measures to ensure fairness and constitutional compliance in any law affecting military service obligations.