Israel’s Knesset completed its legislative blitz ahead of its dissolution, which will be on July 17.
Here are some of the most important - and controversial - bills that passed, and what they mean for the State of Israel:
Basic Law: Torah Study - 63 for, 52 against
This law, one of two major bills pushed by the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties, sought to enshrine Torah study as a fundamental value in the country’s Basic Law.
The bill states that “Torah study is a fundamental value in the heritage of the Jewish people and in the State of Israel.” Israel does not have a constitution. Instead, it has a series of Knesset-enacted basic laws on various subjects that have high legal status.
Critics argue the Basic Law: Torah Study bill encourages draft evasion and changes the status of yeshiva students who do not serve, enabling them to continue receiving state benefits even amid the IDF’s severe manpower shortage.
What this actually means: Enshrining Torah study in Israel’s basic law will make it much harder for courts to challenge the arrangements in place that let haredi yeshiva students avoid mandatory service in the IDF, as the avoidance can now be defended as students protecting one of Israel’s core values.
Halting arrest of haredi draft evaders - 58 for, 54 against
The second major haredi-backed bill called for a temporary freeze on the arrests of haredi draft dodgers, and it was passed despite severe legal warnings that the legislation is unbalanced.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir warned that such a law would decrease recruitment both from the haredi community and from the general Israeli population by delegitimizing the idea of the IDF as the “nation’s army” in which everyone is equally obligated to serve.
While this was designed as a temporary freeze, set to run until November 30, the law was frozen by the High Court of Justice within a day of passage.
What this actually means: Right now, it’s unclear. With the High Court temporarily freezing the law, its entry into force has been suspended until further notice. Without the High Court’s intervention, over 72,000 haredi men would continue to evade arrest. Moving forward, this could normalize non-enlistment, and, as Zamir warned, this would decrease recruitment across the board, furthering the burden on the IDF’s reservists and soldiers in mandatory service.
Weakening influence, oversight capabilities of attorney-general - 65 for, 51 against
The bill, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition has been pushing to pass during the government’s term, aimed to significantly weaken the attorney-general’s power to influence and oversee the government.
Its passage came amid the government’s ongoing rift with the judiciary and Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara.
The bill will grant the government the ability to disregard the attorney-general’s legal opinions, which are generally treated as binding on the executive branch unless a court rules otherwise.
What this actually means: The A-G's legal opinions function less like advice and more like a binding rule on Israel’s executive branch, and are the real-time check on government action before courts get involved. This law removes that default, and if the government disagrees with the A-G, it no longer needs to convince a court in advance; it can just proceed on its own reading of the law, and the only recourse is after the fact, through a High Court petition.
Sweeping reforms to Israel’s broadcasting sector - 53 for, 48 against
This bill, pushed heavily by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi (Likud), is the first move that aims to enact sweeping reforms to Israel’s broadcasting sector.
The legislation is expected to grant the government substantial control over broadcasting media in the country.
Critics argue that the legislation could harm freedom of the press and ultimately benefit outlets such as Channel 14, while negatively impacting channels such as Channel 12, which coalition MKs and ministers have claimed is anti-government.
The bill was split into two parts, with this one focusing mainly with restructuring Israel’s broadcasting oversight system, including laying the groundwork for a new media regulator, setting financial and local production requirements for content providers, and, most notably, regulating how content from Israel's public broadcaster, KAN, and the Knesset Channel is distributed, and outlining how the changes would be implemented and gradually phased in.
What this actually means: The bill replaces existing broadcasting oversight bodies with a new regulatory council, most of whose members are chosen by the communications minister, shifting control over who can broadcast and under what terms into the minister's hands rather than an independent body.