Yeshiva students

Knesset passes contentious haredi-backed bill to enshrine Torah study in Israel's Basic Law

The haredi-backed Basic Law passed its final Knesset votes after weeks of coalition tensions and warnings that it could encourage draft evasion.

MK Yitzhak Goldknopf (United Torah Judaism) attends a House committee meeting at the Knesset, July 12, 2026.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at Knesset plenum to vote in favor of Basic: Law Torah Study bill, shaking hands with Degel Hatorah leader MK Moshe Gafni, Wednesday, July 1, 2026.

Israel's hysterical Torah study bill will backfire on the ultra-Orthodox - opinion

Haredi anti-draft protesters block Highway 4 near Bnei Brak denouncing the detention of a draft dodger, February 9, 2026.

Laundering human capital: The reckless amnesty bills and their debasement of the Torah - opinion

People walk past election posters for the upcoming elections in Jerusalem on October 24, 2022.

Israel cannot afford Netanyahu’s capitulation to haredi demands - editorial


Rabbi Asher Deutsch, leader of Peleg Yerushalmi, dies at 79

He previously served as the head of the Lithuanian 'Ponevezh Yeshiva' for 46 years, and has been influential in draft dodging among yeshiva students.

 Head Rabbi of Ponevezh Yeshiva (Ponevitch) Rabbi Asher Deutsch.

War in Israel leads to unexpected increase in enrollment at American yeshivas

Most yeshiva students who went home during the early stages of the war returned in December and January to help support Israel and continue their learning. 

 Jerusalem Day at the Kotel

'Throw them in the toilet': Yitzhak Yosef urges students to 'tear up' draft orders

"What do we have without our Torah? Why did we come here—to become secular? If a draft notice arrives, tear it up. Do you have a toilet at home? Flush it down,” Yosef said.

 Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef during a shaharit prayer in the northern Israeli city of Tzfat, September 17, 2024.

New York: The Hilula of Rabbi Chaim Pinto “The Younger” at the Yeshiva of Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto


Rabbi Pinto: Most problems arise because people don’t know how to make decisions


Be careful what you wish for: The haredi draft is a societal challenge the IDF can solve - opinion

Let's honor every IDF soldier, regardless of community or gender, for the holy work they continue to do every day on behalf of Israel, the Jewish people, and the entire free world.

 IDF SOLDIERS pray during a break in a haredi unit’s training exercise. If haredi parents and rabbinic leaders could be assured that their sons would complete their service as they entered – as observant, ultra-Orthodox Jews – there would be more grassroots support, the writer maintains.

Haredi daycare bill: What is it and why should we care? - explainer

The general idea is that the state provides subsidized daycare for parents who otherwise would not be able to afford it.

 An illustrative image of haredi residents of Jerusalem's Ramat Eshkol neighborhood.

‘I’m an American, but I’m also Jewish’: How Orthodox women in college are voting for president

Many Jewish women in the United States, including some who are Modern Orthodox, have taken up reproductive rights as a key issue, with some suing their home states on religious grounds.

 Students pray after listening to Sapir Cohen, a freed Israeli hostage, speak during an Evening of Unity event at Yeshiva University’s Stern College for Women on August 27, 2024 in New York City.

Likud's Dan Illouz digs in on haredi draft, defying Netanyahu

PM Netanyahu reportedly criticized Illouz for voicing his opposition to the gov's new initiative to incentivize haredim not to enlist in the IDF.

 Dan Illouz, former Jerusalem City Council Member

Golknopf agrees to drop IDF draft bill in exchange for approval of daycare subsidie

The haredi parties are willing to suffice with a bill that will enable this subsidy to continue as opposed to a complete IDF draft bill, according to the report.

 Haredi men dressed in traditional ultra-Orthodox garb stand behind a group of religious IDF soldiers