Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs to Mishpacha Magazine that the government would advance a draft exemption for Torah students that would be immune to the Supreme Court.
"The Draft Bill will be advanced immediately at the beginning of the winter session and will include an exemption for Torah students, without sanctions, a bill that would be immune to judicial review," Fuchs stated.
He also discussed the Likud's denial that the bill to set Torah study as a basic law would be advanced and stated: "It would seem to be a quick response to an incident with far-reaching public consequences, so maybe the response was a bit too harsh."
Last week UTJ submitted a bill to pass "Basic Law: Torah Study," which proposes "to anchor appropriately in a Basic Law the great importance and enormous value which the State sees in Torah learning, and its desire to encourage Torah study." The law was promised to the haredi parties in the coalition agreements as a legal solution meant to prevent the Supreme Court from overturning a draft exemption law even without an override clause.
Despite this, due to the public and political storm caused by the bill, the Likud claimed that the bill "is not on the agenda and will not be advanced."
In the coalition agreement with UTJ, it was agreed that the Torah study law would be advanced even before the budget was passed. In light of the delays in the bill's advancement, MK Roth, together with his party members, privately submitted a bill that would set the status of Torah study as a basic principle and would make yeshiva students' conditions equal to those of soldiers.