Israeli Security Committee Approves Yeshiva Students Arrest Exemption Law Amid Legal Warnings

The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee approved the law exempting yeshiva students who avoid military service from arrest by a narrow margin of 8 to 7 votes. This decision was made despite strong legal objections from the Knesset legal advisor, Shagit Afik, and the committee's legal advisor, Miri Frankel Shur, who warned the law is likely to be struck down by the Supreme Court. The law, based on the draft of the draft-dodging legislation discussed over 86 committee sessions, actually proposes a different framework. It grants yeshiva students an arrest exemption lasting several months and establishes a monitoring mechanism to verify their actual study in yeshivas.

Originally valid for three months, the law's duration was extended to four and a half months, until the end of November, and with automatic extensions for temporary laws during election periods, it will effectively last seven months until the end of January. The exemption law is part of a legislative package that includes the Basic Law: Torah Study, promoted in the Knesset Committee. These laws form part of a coalition deal where ultra-Orthodox parties support draft-dodging legislation in exchange for backing laws that alter the judicial system, such as the law splitting the legal advisor position.

Miri Frankel Shur issued a harsh legal opinion stating the exemption law grants a clear exemption to a defined population from fulfilling the Security Service Law without accompanying arrangements to ensure or encourage IDF enlistment. She criticized it for enabling selective enforcement and undermining the rule of law, calling it unconstitutional and discriminatory. Similarly, Shagit Afik condemned the legislative process, arguing that after 86 discussions on the draft-dodging law, the committee improperly extracted a small section and transformed it into a standalone law, which she described as an irregular and improper procedure.