ISTANBUL / Zain Khalil / AA (Anadolu Agency)

The Israeli Knesset (parliament) on Monday evening finally passed the Basic Law on 'Torah study' after softening its wording, granting students of religious seminaries (yeshivas) a special status, according to Hebrew media.

The newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the law passed by a majority of 63 votes to 52 in the second and third readings, thus becoming an enforceable law.

Netanyahu was absent from the vote on the controversial bill, according to the same source.

The newspaper explained that the law 'helps strengthen the position of the Haredim (ultra-Orthodox Jews) before the Supreme Court (the highest judicial authority) to push forward a future bill that would exempt them from military service.'

It added that the original draft of the law stipulated the need to balance the value of Torah study with other values.

However, after the Knesset’s legal advisors opined that such wording could lead to granting Torah students privileges similar to those received by Israeli army soldiers, the text was amended to limit it to consecrating Torah study as a fundamental value, without stipulating the need to balance it with other values, according to the newspaper.

The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee approved on Sunday a bill to freeze the arrest of Haredim who evade military service, ahead of a vote in the second and third readings in the Knesset.

The voting day has not been set, but estimates in Israel indicate that the government seeks to pass the bill in the Knesset before it dissolves on Friday, in preparation for the general elections scheduled for October 27.

The Haredim continue their protests against military service since the Supreme Court (the highest judicial authority) ruled on June 25, 2024, to obligate them to enlist.

The Haredim make up about 13 percent of Israel’s population, which numbers over 10 million, and they refuse military service claiming to dedicate their lives to Torah study, saying that integration into secular society threatens their religious identity and community continuity.

For decades, the Haredim have managed to avoid conscription upon reaching age 18 by obtaining repeated deferments under the pretext of studying in religious seminaries, until reaching the age of exemption from service, currently set at 26.