The Knesset on Wednesday night approved the bill to legislate Basic Law: Torah Study in its first reading. 63 Knesset members voted in favor of the bill. MKs Yuli Edelstein (Likud), Dan Illouz (Likud), and Moshe Solomon (Religious Zionists) opposed it.
The initiator of the bill, MK Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism), said in the plenum that "the Jewish people suffered persecution. It is the only nation that has survived all these thousands of years. Not only did the Jewish people survive, it returned to their land - an open miracle."
"A Jewish person in the State of Israel wants there to be a basic law for Torah Study, among the other basic laws. Today, a person who studies Torah and walks on the street can be arrested. I believe that there is disdain for Torah study and the value that the State of Israel has for Torah learners. Torah study is what preserves us as a nation," he added.
MK Uri Maklev (UTJ) claimed that "the value of Torah study is our basis as a nation. Our right to sit in this land and the promise appear in the Torah. There is no Zionism without a basis of Torah behind it. All the values that exist in the end correspond to and are derived from the Torah. The need to legislate the Basic Law: Torah Study did not appear from thin air."
The explanatory notes accompanying the bill state: "During the preparation of the Basic Law bill for its second and third readings, the Knesset House Committee will examine whether the proposed legislation has any implications for the functioning of government authorities in light of its provisions."
"According to the Budget Department at the Ministry of Finance, it is not currently possible to estimate the fiscal cost of the legislation, as it remains unclear what specific actions would be required under the proposed wording."