MK Naama Lazimi (The Democrats) criticized the Basic Law: Torah Study during its first reading in the Knesset plenum, calling it a 'reward for draft-dodgers' bill. The legislation, which would grant Torah study constitutional status equivalent to national service, advanced amid ongoing controversy over conscription exemptions for Haredi men.
MK Naama Lazimi (The Democrats) slammed the Basic Law: Torah Study as a 'reward for draft-dodgers' during its first reading in the Knesset plenum Wednesday evening, escalating opposition criticism as the bill advanced through its first legislative stage.
Earlier Wednesday at 17:44 Jerusalem, The Zioneer reported that MK Moshe Gafni (Degel HaTorah) presented the bill, arguing the state must protect 'the thing that holds us together as a people.' The plenum debate had just begun at that same time. Lazimi's intervention came later in the same session, adding a sharp personal rebuke to the procedural debate.
As The Zioneer reported on June 10, Deputy Knesset Speaker MK Yitzhak Margi (Shas) had Lazimi removed from the plenum during the preliminary vote on the same bill earlier this month. Opposition leaders Naftali Bennett, Avigdor Lieberman, and Gadi Eisenkot condemned the legislation at that stage, and Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon warned that Interior and Transportation ministries were violating a High Court ruling on sanctions for draft evaders — a deepening legal context for this bill's constitutional proposal.
The first-reading debate continues; final passage requires two more votes.
4 developments
- DevelopingKnesset Committee erupts in heated debate over Torah Study Basic Law and draft crisis
- DevelopingMK Moshe Tur-Paz says Torah study bill is 'a desecration of Torah', will study without exemption
- DevelopingMK Stern: new Torah study Basic Law worse than first draft
- DevelopingProposed Basic Law equating Torah study with national service draws fire from allies
Source and signal
- Internal intake