🇮🇱 Israeli Knesset advances bill equating Torah study with military service amid war and conscription crisis, legitimizing Haredi draft evasion

Israel's Knesset voted 56-43 on Wednesday to advance a controversial Basic Law that would enshrine Torah study as a foundational value of the state and recognize long-term Torah study as service to Israel and the Jewish people. Sponsored by the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party and backed by Shas, the bill would effectively place full-time yeshiva study on a similar footing to military service, granting those engaged in it rights equivalent to those received by soldiers.

The legislation comes at the center of one of Israel's most divisive political battles: the exemption of ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) men from military service. The issue has intensified since the outbreak of the Gaza genocide and broader regional war, as demands for Haredi conscription have grown while ultra-Orthodox parties have fought to preserve exemptions following a 2024 High Court ruling that deemed them unconstitutional. Although the coalition backed the bill's preliminary passage, government minister Ze'ev Elkin said future support depends on removing language explicitly comparing Torah students to military service members.

The vote also exposed broader political maneuvering inside the Knesset. According to Hebrew media reports, Palestinian citizens of Israel represented by Hadash-Ta'al and Ra'am abstained under an understanding with the ultra-Orthodox parties, which reportedly agreed to block legislation promoted by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir targeting the use of mosque loudspeakers in exchange for non-opposition to the Torah study bill.

Senior ultra-Orthodox lawmakers celebrated the vote as a historic victory, with United Torah Judaism MK Yisrael Eichler calling it a "declaration of holy war" against those he said persecute Torah scholars, while other party leaders accused opponents of antisemitism and judicial overreach. The bill must still pass committee review and three additional Knesset readings before becoming law, but its advancement marks a major step in the struggle over military service, religion, and the balance of power between Israel's judiciary, secular establishment, and ultra-Orthodox political bloc.

🔗 The Cradle

🇺🇸🇮🇱 Buried deep inside a 192-page intelligence authorization bill is Section 622, titled “United States-Israel Intelligence Sharing Enhancement.” It would require the president, acting through the director of national intelligence and as necessary the secretary of defense, to “expand and enhance intelligence sharing with the Government of Israel” on a list of subjects that encompasses almost every topic of intelligence interest in the Middle East.

⭕️ The bill, put forward by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, would prohibit any suspension, reduction, or limitation of such sharing “except on the basis of a specific and identifiable national security concern determined by the President.”

🔗 https://responsiblestatecraft.org/us-intelligence-israel/

📎 WS News

🇺🇸🚢💥 CENTCOM has published footage of the attack on the Palau flagged M/T Settebello claiming it was transporting Iranian oil

@CIG_telegram

🇺🇸❌🇮🇷🇨🇳🇭🇰 The U.S. has placed new sanctions as part of its economic war against Iran, targeting 9 individuals and entities based in China and Hong Kong respectively.

The individuals and entities are helping the IRGC procure and manufacture weapons.

🔗 https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0528