Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee chairman David Rotem (Israel
Beiteinu) has proposed a bill that seeks to undo one of the legal ramifications
of the Tal Law’s cancellation, by passing separate legislation on yeshivas that
combine Torah studies with army service.
The High Court declared the Tal
Law, which was passed in 2002 to encourage ultra-Orthodox men to enlist in the
IDF or for national service, unconstitutional last month. The Tal Law also
legalized hesder yeshivas, a framework in which national-religious yeshiva
students combine Torah studies with a shortened army service.
Rotem’s
bill is meant to anchor the hesder yeshivas in legislation and will be put to a
vote by the Ministerial Committee on Legislation on Sunday.
According to
Rotem, the cancellation of the hesder program was unintentional, as the court’s
ruling dealt only with the ultra-Orthodox.
“The hesder track includes
tens of thousands of young national-religious men that serve in the IDF,” Rotem
said.
“We cannot allow this great program to be closed because of a
ruling on a different topic.”
Israel Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Liberman
assigned Rotem to draft an alternative to the Tal Law but he has yet to finish
the new bill.