Religion & State
Yeshivas and the army
Yeshiva students should keep their exemption from military service.
In July 2026 the Knesset voted 58 to 54 to suspend the arrest of Haredi draft evaders. The IDF chief of staff called the law warped.
What is at stake
Military service is compulsory for most Israeli citizens. Since 1948, full-time yeshiva students have received rolling deferrals that became exemptions in practice. The Supreme Court has ruled the arrangement has no legal basis, so the Knesset has to legislate. Coalitions have collapsed over it.
The case for
- Full-time Torah study is itself a contribution. It is how Jewish learning was rebuilt after the Holocaust.
- A largely secular army cannot preserve a life built on continuous study and strict separation.
- Forced enlistment would add few usable soldiers and open a rupture between Israel's communities that lasts a generation.
The case against
- Combat units are stretched and reservists have served tour after tour since October 7.
- An exemption you get by birth rather than by need is not a deferral. It is a permanent inequality between citizens.
- Service is the surest route into work and public life. Torah study can resume the day it ends.
Both sides get the same number of points at comparable length. That is a rule of this site, not a coincidence.
What the next Knesset could decide
The next Knesset has to pass a conscription law. It sets annual draft targets, the age of exemption, and whether sanctions fall on individuals or on institutions. Haredi parties will make that text a condition of joining any coalition.