Following a High Court of Justice hearing on Wednesday, Har BrachaYeshiva students withdrew their petition against Defense Minister EhudBarak's decision to remove the institute from the hesder arrangement with theIDF.
It followed a High Court opinion issue by the panel of judgesagainst the IDF continuing the arrangement - under which men serve 16 months inthe army and spend close to four years studying in yeshiva – due to “extreme” statementsmade by head of the yeshiva, Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, supporting insubordinationin the army under certain circumstances.
In a statement, the Defense Ministry stressed that other hesder yeshiva studentswill continue to give a “significant and important” contribution to all militaryunits, in the form of former, current and future soldiers and commanders.
Barak's decision came after Melamed voiced support forinsubordination in cases where IDF soldiers are ordered to help evacuate Jewishsettlements in Judea and .
As a result of Barak's decision, some 150 students at Har Bracha who are in various stages of afive-year program combining military service with Torah studies will be forcedto either transfer to another hesder yeshiva or serve a full three years ofactive duty in the IDF.
Although the IDF gave Har Brachastudents a two-month extension to move to other hesder yeshivot, the petitionhad claimed that the request for the students to find other places to study was "causing them immediate and serious harm."
The petitioners, including three students due to be drafted into the IDF in10 days, had further claimed that since the Knesset's Foreign Affairs andDefense Committee had not ratified the decision, Barak had no legal authorityto make such a ruling.