Meir Porush submits bills to regulate yeshiva students' military service status

MK Meir Porush submitted two bills at the opening of the 26th Knesset: one allowing deferment until age 26 with full exemption for those studying at least 45 hours weekly, and another freezing arrests and enforcement for one year.

MKs Meir Porush (United Torah Judaism) and Eliyahu Stark (Otzma Yehudit) submitted with the formation of the 26th Knesset two bills to regulate the status of yeshiva students and kollel scholars vis-à-vis the IDF. The first bill allows the Defense Minister to grant a service deferment to a yeshiva student studying at least 45 hours a week in a yeshiva or 40 hours in a kollel, until age 26, and then a full exemption. The bill includes transitional provisions to regulate the status of students during the period since the previous arrangement expired. The second bill, as a temporary order for one year, stipulates a freeze on arrest, investigation, and criminal enforcement proceedings against yeshiva students who meet the study conditions, until comprehensive legislation is completed. The explanatory notes claim that the regulation is part of the foundation on which the state was established, and that it is a "Jewish and social state of emergency." Porush's office stated that the goal is to remove the threat of arrests and enable study.