Coalition leaders agreed Tuesday to legislate the Basic Law: Torah Study and a bill freezing arrests of draft-dodging yeshiva students through three readings before the dispersal of the Knesset. The daycare funding bill, a key Haredi demand, will not advance, according to an official coalition summary.
Coalition leaders reached a decisive agreement Tuesday afternoon to pass two key pieces of legislation through three Knesset readings before the session disperses: the Basic Law: Torah Study and a bill freezing arrests of yeshiva students evading military conscription. The daycare funding bill, which has been a flashpoint in coalition talks and the cause of repeated slowdowns by Haredi parties Shas and UTJ, will not advance.
The agreement comes after weeks of friction documented in The Zioneer's coverage. The coalition's inability to advance the daycare bill — first flagged by coalition chair Ofir Katz on Monday, and confirmed by Prime Minister Netanyahu earlier Tuesday — had led Shas and UTJ to halt all coalition voting in the Knesset plenum. Monday's ministerial committee approval of the Basic Law: Torah Study marked an earlier step, but Haredi sources had called the measure merely declarative without a clause equating Torah study with military service.
The freeze on draft-dodger arrests appears to address that gap by providing a concrete legal shield for yeshiva students, effectively preventing the IDF from detaining conscription evaders during the current legislative term. The daycare bill's shelving is a significant concession from Haredi leaders, who have threatened to block all coalition legislation over the issue.
What remains open: the text of the freeze bill has not been published, and it is unclear whether it will apply retroactively or only prospectively. Haredi parties have yet to issue an official public response to the final agreement.
- StrongMinisterial committee approves Basic Law: Torah Study; Haredi parties call it merely declarative without equal-status clause
- DevelopingCoalition deal: Knesset bill shelved, part of draft law advanced instead
- StrongShas leader Deri demands Torah Study Basic Law vote as condition for coalition support
- DevelopingShas and Degel HaTorah Torah Study Basic Law bills diverge in Knesset vote schedule
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