Netanyahu arrives from Maccabiah ceremony to help secure 61-vote majority for Haredi-backed bill, part of wider political deal with Likud over draft, kosher supervision and October 7 inquiry issues

Critics say the bill could preserve state benefits for yeshiva students who avoid military service amid the IDF’s manpower shortage.

The bill originally equated study of the Jewish Torah with military service, which could be used to justify ultra-Orthodox men's exclusion from mandatory enlistment. The relevant…

An Israeli parliamentary committee on Tuesday approved a bill granting special status to Torah students, moving forward with legislation at the center of a...

The wording in the proposal emphasizes Torah study as “a fundamental value in the heritage of the Jewish people and in the State of Israel.”

Netanyahu arrives from Maccabiah ceremony to help secure 61-vote majority for Haredi-backed bill, part of wider political deal with Likud over draft, kosher supervision and…

The law was advanced as part of a deal Netanyahu brokered with ultra-Orthodox party leaders in exchange for support for overhaul legislation - and despite the attorney general's…