Did the Haredi MKs Wake Up at the End of the Knesset Term? The Full Story on the Torah Study Law and the Clash with Smotrich

The Friday-night studio panel hosted by Yishai Cohen summed up an especially turbulent week in which the Haredi factions managed to advance the Basic Law on Torah Study in preliminary reading, while committing to soften the final wording. The discussion asked whether the law will really save Torah students, whether it can withstand the High Court of Justice, or whether it is intended for election campaign purposes. The daycare law also moved forward and sparked a battle with Minister Bezalel Smotrich. Another question raised was whether the 'Faction' protests are succeeding in reducing the number of arrests by the military police.

On the panel this evening: Chanan Breitkopf, Avi Weiderman, Aryeh Yoeli and Avi Greenzayg (Friday Night Studio). Watch the full program. Chanan Breitkopf, an editor at Kikar HaShabbat, Avi Weiderman, head of the Super Data polling institute, Srugim editor Aryeh Yoeli, and media figure Avi Greenzayg gathered this week in the Friday Night Studio, hosted by Yishai Cohen, to review a week that was especially stormy in Haredi political and public life.

At the opening of the program, the panelists addressed the Basic Law on Torah Study, which was approved this week in preliminary reading, with a commitment to remove the comparison between a Torah student and an IDF servicemember. The central question raised was whether the law will also pass second and third readings, and whether it will truly provide a solution for regulating the status of yeshiva students. The panelists discussed the main legal question, how far the Basic Law on Torah Study will stand up to scrutiny by the Supreme Court. The discussion focused on the wording of the law and on whether removing the comparison between Torah students and soldiers will be enough to pass the legal hurdle.

Another major issue raised in the discussion was the protests by the Jerusalem Faction and the roadblocks across the country. The question that occupied the panelists was whether 'the Faction' is indeed succeeding through the protests in reducing the arrests of yeshiva students, or whether the public cost is too high. As is known, thousands of members of the Jerusalem Faction and the Edah HaChareidis took to the streets this week in mass protests at several central locations in the Gush Dan area, בעקבות the police decision to hand over 17 yeshiva students who were arrested during protests outside the home of the deputy president of the Supreme Court, Justice Noam Sohlberg, to military prison. The panelists examined the claim that police concern over unrest nationwide is what led to the policy change. The question raised was who is paying the public price for crossing red lines in the protests, and what the long-term consequences are for the Haredi public.

Later, the panelists discussed the clash that developed this week between the Haredi factions and Minister Bezalel Smotrich over the Basic Law on Torah Study and the daycare law. The discussion focused on whether the Haredi factions are really advancing the public's interests or whether these are media maneuvers.