Basic Law

Under the guise of concern for the world of Torah, two bills are on the table: the Basic Law: Torah Study on the one side, and the Law of Exemption from Arrests on the other. 

The agreement is expected to allow the bill to advance in the Knesset's House Committee ahead of its final second and third readings after previous coaltion objections to wording.

The House Committee had convened to hear revisions on the contentious bill that seeks to enshrine Torah study as a fundamental value in the country’s Basic Law, ahead of final readings.

Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef warned there was “no room for delay” on the Torah Study Law amid coalition efforts to advance contentious legislation.

That same Torah which gives us our claim to the land also commands us to study it day and night – and our tradition holds that this study is itself a form of national defense.

Another significant dimension has received almost no attention: the possibility that the law will alter Israel’s national priorities and damage the growth engines on which the Israeli economy depends

“It's a crime what you're doing to them - all of you here. If I gave each and every one of you the footage from my GoPro of the bodies, you wouldn't sleep at night," the veteran told the committee.

Movers and shakers in Israeli society.

"It is fitting and proper that they [soldiers] be first in the order of priorities to receive the nation’s appreciation through its decisions and allocation of resources," said Zamir.

The hollowing-out of a word – and the agenda it now carries.