From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, June 16, 2026
Revised draft of proposed Basic Law on Torah study to no longer compare Talmud study to military service — report
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition will advance a new draft of its controversial bill declaring Torah study a foundational value of the State of Israel, in which it will remove wording referring to the benefits granted to yeshiva students and directly equating full-time Torah study to military service by referring to it as a “significant service,” instead, Channel 12 reports.
According to the network, the Haredi parties do not believe that the change will make a substantive difference to their aim of passing a bill allowing yeshiva students to avoid conscription that will not be struck down by the High Court of Justice.
At the same time, Shas chairman Aryeh Deri will try to advance legislation lifted from the coalition’s now-halted draft exemption bill that would release yeshiva students held in prison for draft evasion, the network reports.
The Times of Israel Community.