Knesset panel prepares Basic Law anchoring reserve duty as fundamental state value

Lawmakers on the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee begin preparing a quasi-constitutional Basic Law enshrining reserve duty as a “fundamental value” of the state for the first of three readings necessary to become law.

The proposal would give preferential treatment to reservists in land purchases, academic admissions and civil service employment.

The bill, sponsored by Religious Zionism MK Ohad Tal, enjoys the backing of the Defense Ministry and over 40 MKs from different factions. However, the Justice Ministry has questioned whether it ought to be passed as a Basic Law or as regular legislation.

While there is a consensus regarding the bill’s contents, its format remains open to debate and “we will have to decide on the issue,” says committee chairman Yuli Edelstein.

The IDF is suffering manpower shortages caused by the hostilities on the northern border and the ongoing war in Gaza.

Last month, in a bid to mitigate the issue, the defense establishment started recalling to duty some 15,000 previously exempted reservists.

In June, Edelstein halted efforts to extend a temporary measure raising the exemption age for reserve military service from 40 to 41 for soldiers and from 45 to 46 for officers for several additional months, stating that he would not allow it to pass without “broad consensus.”