UTJ Lawmakers File Bills to Defer Yeshiva Students' Draft Until Age 26 and Freeze Arrests for a Year

Status: The bills were filed Wednesday. None has received a Knesset vote, and none is law.

United Torah Judaism lawmakers Meir Porush and Elyakim Stark introduced two proposals aimed at the military-service status of ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students and kollel students, the Jerusalem Post and Ynet reported, one day after the 26th Knesset was sworn in.

The first bill would authorize the defense minister to grant yearly service deferments to students who regularly study at least 45 hours a week at a yeshiva, or 40 hours a week at a kollel. Each deferment would last up to a year and could be renewed until age 26, when the minister would grant a full exemption from mandatory service, the Post reported. Transitional provisions would shield students who met the study requirements from prosecution for failing to report, and would halt proceedings or the enforcement of judgments already underway.

The second bill, framed as a one-year temporary measure and described as an "Arrest Suspension Law," would immediately halt arrest, investigation, and criminal enforcement against eligible yeshiva students until broader legislation is enacted. It would apply to students required to report for service on or after July 1, 2023, if they declare that they meet the weekly study hours and do not hold another occupation, the Post reported. The explanatory notes, as quoted by Ynet, say the purpose is "to immediately stop the wave of arrests and calm tensions on the ground."

Porush's office said the timing was intended to make yeshiva students' status a top parliamentary priority, the Post reported.

In a competing filing, Naftali Bennett's B'Yachad party submitted a "Law for Those Who Serve" that would expand benefits for active reservists and discharged soldiers, including help with childcare, discounts on utilities and municipal taxes, and broader tuition support, Ynet and the Times of Israel reported. Ynet said the bill appears unlikely to advance in its current form. The Times of Israel reported that none of the legislation appears to have a clear path to passage, because the Eisenkot-led bloc's majority for rewarding military service sits uneasily with Haredi demands to preserve exemptions, which themselves lack a clear majority.

The draft remains a central issue in coalition talks. For the opening-day bills filed by Eisenkot's bloc, see Eisenkot Bloc Files Bills for Oct. 7 State Inquiry, PM Term Limits and Judicial Overhaul Rollback.