Rabbis and yeshivot leaders who are among the fanatical factions in the Sephardic community have declared a struggle against the law freezing the arrests of 'renegades' who study Torah - which was approved today (Sunday) by the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee for second and third reading.
According to a report this evening by Daniel Grubeis on 'Kan News', opponents claim that since the law includes supervision over who studies Torah and who does not, it gives too many powers to the state.
The rabbis write: "It is clear that even if the law were to be invalidated or expire within a short period of time, the mere agreement to the law would be putting a sword in the hands of the persecutors of the Torah to implement the mechanisms of supervision and breach the walls of the world of the Torah. It is an absolute duty to oppose it with all force.".
The rabbis who signed the letter announced that if the law passes, they will instruct all Haredi yeshiva heads not to cooperate with state representatives who come to enforce it - and will demand that "the inspectors be thrown out of the yeshivahs.".
The rabbis opposing the law also publicly opposed the conscription law that was formulated in the committee by representatives of the Haredi factions, but now they are launching a public attack for the first time against a law that is considered much more lenient.
According to the bill approved today as a temporary order, the detention of 'renegade' yeshiva students whose teachings are their art will be frozen until after the Knesset elections.
The Minister of Defense will formulate the list of yeshivas included in the arrangement, in accordance with criteria to be determined in regulations. As for supervision, here too the Minister of Defense will be responsible for authorizing inspectors to visit those yeshivas to verify that those registered as students are indeed studying.
