Israeli panel approves bill to suspend detention of ultra-Orthodox draft evaders

An Israeli parliamentary committee approved a bill on Sunday to suspend the detention of ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Jews who evade mandatory military service, paving the way for final votes in the full Knesset later this week, according to local media, Anadolu reports.

The Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee approved a temporary order freezing the detention of draft evaders studying at religious seminaries, or yeshivas, Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported.

The newspaper said the governing coalition intends to press ahead with the hot-button legislation despite a legal opinion concluding that the bill “does not achieve balance, but rather deepens inequality.”

The bill is expected to be brought before the Knesset for its second and third readings later this week.

Under the proposal, the measure would remain in force until Nov. 30. However, Yedioth Ahronoth said it would effectively remain valid for six months rather than three because Article 38 of Israel’s Basic Law automatically extends any law set to expire within four months of the parliament’s dissolution until the end of the first three months of the next Knesset’s term.

Reacting to the committee’s approval, opposition leader and former military chief Gadi Eisenkot said on US social media company X that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition “discriminates between citizens in bearing the burden of military service.”

“In Netanyahu’s government, dodging military service pays off. In the government we will form, those who serve and defend the country will receive the appreciation and respect they deserve,” Eisenkot said.

The governing coalition is preparing for a decisive legislative week, expected to be the last before the Knesset is dissolved ahead of anticipated general elections in October, according to Israeli public broadcaster KAN.

Alongside the draft-evasion bill, the coalition also plans to advance a law which seeks to enshrine Torah study as “a fundamental value” in Israel.

Earlier this month, the Knesset approved the bill in its first reading by a vote of 63-53, granting Torah study special constitutional status and strengthening legal protections for students at Jewish religious schools.

Haredim make up about 13% of Israel’s population, which exceeds 10 million. They reject military service on the grounds of full-time Torah study, saying integration into secular society threatens their religious identity.

For decades, Haredi men avoided conscription at age 18 through repeated deferments for religious study until reaching the exemption age, currently 26.

But in 2024, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that Haredim must be drafted into the military and ordered the suspension of state funding for religious institutions whose students refuse enlistment.