MK Moshe Gafni (Degel HaTorah), opening the Knesset Committee meeting, demanded a clear answer from the committee chair on whether the Basic Law: Torah Study bill will proceed, saying he will not 'be humiliated again' if the commitment is not given. The ultimatum follows a pattern of stalled coalition promises on the bill.
MK Moshe Gafni (Degel HaTorah) issued a firm ultimatum at the opening of the Knesset Committee meeting on Monday afternoon, demanding a clear, binding commitment from the committee chair that the Basic Law: Torah Study will indeed be advanced before he agrees to participate in deliberations. 'I want to know before we start the discussion if we are going ahead with this. Otherwise, I will not be humiliated once again,' Gafni said, according to his office.
This is the latest in a series of coalition standoffs over the bill, which would enshrine Torah study as a basic right under constitutional law. As The Zioneer reported earlier on Monday, Gafni had already expressed frustration with unfulfilled pledges. The move follows weeks of behind-the-scenes wrangling: negotiations for changes to the bill's language, a procedural transfer to the Knesset Committee after MK Simcha Rothman refused to hold hearings on it, and a delay of the daycare funding bill for yeshiva students, which coalition sources attributed to a desire to limit public backlash.
Gafni's threat throws the fate of the bill into renewed uncertainty. The Knesset Committee chair has not publicly responded. A vote had been anticipated this week but now depends on resolving this leadership-level demand.
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