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n an expanded panel, with a majority of eight to one, the High Court ruled 14 months ago that the draft law, which provides all yeshivah students in Israel with a deferral from army service, will expire in one year. Since that ruling, the chareidi parties have been scrambling to formulate a new law that the High Court will accept.

The law that is now pending in the Knesset was formulated by a committee established by former defense minister Avigdor Lieberman, and composed of IDF representatives who met with chareidi MKs and roshei yeshivah, and who also visited several prominent yeshivos.

The original draft law is the result of a High Court ruling at the end of the 1990s that gave the defense minister the authority to issue a deferral to all yeshivah students — without Knesset approval.

In 2002, the Knesset passed the Tal Law, which institutionalized the mechanism of army deferrals for yeshivah students, and was meant to encourage the draft of chareidim to the military.

In 2012, the High Court ruled that the law had not been effective and therefore, should not be renewed. Two years later, the Knesset passed a new draft bill, one that called for an “adjustment period,” until June 30, 2017, during which time it would be possible for yeshivah students to defer army service up to age 26 — the age when they could receive a full exemption. In addition, various means were meant to be employed that would steadily boost the numbers of chareidi recruits, according to government quotas.

In 2015, after the chareidim joined the current government coalition, an amendment to the law was passed that revoked all criminal sanctions against chareidi recruits and extended the time frame of the law’s application. The amendment lengthened the “adjustment period” to 2020 instead of 2017. Starting from July 1, 2020, and until June 30, 2023, there would be a “second adjustment period,” during which the defense minister could defer conscription of yeshivah students until after the age of 21, based on government recruitment quotas.

In addition, the criteria for those who meet the definition of “chareidi” would be expanded to include youths who between the ages of 14 and 18 studied for two years in a chareidi institution. In other words, even youths who had already left the chareidi community would be considered chareidim for the purpose of the quotas.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 737)