Despite the Ombudsman’s warning, the law freezing arrests of yeshiva students passed its second and third readings
The law freezing arrests of yeshiva students who defected passed its second and third readings today (Sunday) by the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee. Eight Knesset members supported the proposal and seven were against it. The Committee’s Legal Adviser, Adv Miri Frankel Shor: Exempts sectors from the obligations of the Security Services Act without placing any balancing weight on the other side of the equation.” Chairman of the Committee, MK Boaz bismuthreplied: “The committee’s legal advice has become an extension of the government’s legal advice. With all due respect for legal opinion, we bear responsibility for what happens on the ground.”
In the updated version of Amendment 26 to the Security Services Law, under the heading “Integration of Yeshiva Students,” the deadline for freezing arrests of defectors was removed, after the original version stipulated that the freeze on arrests would only be valid for 90 days. According to the proposed wording, the law will apply until November 30th.
The arrest law applies for six months – and not just three months during an election period. The reason for this is that the Basic Law of the Knesset states that any law that expires within four months of the dissolution of the Knesset will be automatically extended until the end of the first three months of the next Knesset.
Additionally, in this version there is the section that states that a yeshiva leader who has fined five of his students is not entitled to declare immunity status or exemption for other students. Instead, it was written that the Minister of Defense, taking into account the recommendation of the Yeshiva Committee, compiled a list of yeshivas that could receive immunity from arrest for their students.
Another section concerns a yeshiva where it turns out that its students do not actually study Torah. If it turns out that students in one yeshiva are not actually studying Torah, they can simply enroll in another yeshiva.
The committee’s legal counsel, Attorney Miri Frankel Shor, stated in her statement: “Over the years, the ruling has recognized the possibility of creating a unique arrangement for yeshiva students whose Torah is their art, and recognized the importance of Torah study. However, this has always been dependent on striking an appropriate balance to promote the reduction of inequality. This balance, which should be reflected in accompanying agreements, is the one that forms the basis for that a legislative regulation meets constitutional standards.”
“In our opinion, a combination of the freezing of criminal proceedings and effective supervision, as well as the denial of economic benefits therefrom, could perhaps – albeit with great difficulty – somewhat cure the constitutional deficiencies of the regime. However, the bill placed before the committee seeks to establish, within the framework of an interim order, a mechanism for ‘freezing arrests’ only for yeshiva students. In fact, this mechanism exempts sectors from the obligations of the Security Services Law, without which there is a compensatory one Add weight to other side of the equation.
“In our view, there is no place in the legislation to establish a regulation that does not enshrine these necessary basic principles – even if it is a temporary arrangement for a few months. A regulation that exempts a certain group from the obligation to comply with the legal provisions without additional mechanisms violates the necessary balance. The current bill does not contain even the minimum of regulations that bring it closer to its intended purpose.”
She also added that “the Security Services Act, in practice, exempts sectors from their duties without placing a counterweight on the other side of the equation. The further the proposed mechanism moves away from the basic principles necessary to regulate recruitment, the more acute the problem of inequality becomes and the inherent constitutional difficulties become more acute.”
talk today
In your email every morning
