The Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Security Committee approved the law freezing the arrests of yeshiva students and 'deserted' Torah scholars for second and third readings this afternoon (Sunday).
Now, the proposal will move on to final approval in the Knesset plenum.
After the vote, committee chairman MK Boaz Bismut attacked the committee's legal counsel Miri Frankel-Shor: "We have often heard the legal advice for the committee present a different position than the position of the army, the position of the professional bodies, and the position of the government.
""More than once, they also pointed out to the legal counsel that they were stepping in and intervening in matters that were outside the legal realm, in matters of policy, the military, and the reality on the ground.".
""And I really wonder: What makes legal advisors think that everything they say is the be-all and end-all? That a legal opinion can overturn the position of all professional bodies in a heartbeat?"
""There were officials here who deal with recruiting Haredim into the IDF on a daily basis. They clearly said that the arrests are ineffective, that they harm recruitment efforts and that they achieve exactly the opposite result.".
""There is a pattern here that repeats itself. Along the way, it was revealed again and again that this is not just legal advice to the committee - it is another extension of the legal advisor to the government, the same one who said that there is no effective protest without disturbing public order.".
""When there is a possibility of calming down, we choose to ignite. When there is a possibility of reducing the rift, we deepen it. We light the fire and then add more and more fuel to it!"
""So with all due respect to the legal opinion you sent this morning, there is also a reality. And in this reality, our responsibility is to put out the fire in the streets, reduce the rift in Israeli society, and advance the vision of Haredi recruitment into the IDF.".
