Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Netanyahu Says He Wants ‘Just’ Law on Service

The Tal Law, which enables full-time yeshiva students to be exempted from mandatory army service, will be replaced with “a more egalitarian and just law,” Israel’s Prime Minister promised activists.

“The division of the burden must be changed. What has been is not what will be,” Benjamin Netanyahu told representatives of reservist activists protesting as part of what is called the “suckers’ encampment.”

The Tal Law must be extended every five years. The law, named for retired Supreme Court justice Tzvi Tal and enacted in 2002 under then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak, allows full-time yeshiva students to delay their army service until age 23. At that time, students either can continue to study full time or perform a shortened army service or a year of national service. Afterward they may choose to join the workforce.

In February, Israel’s Supreme Court declared the Tal Law unconstitutional. It is set to expire in August.

“I know that there are many hitchhikers who voted to automatically extend the Tal Law. I am not one of them. The Tal Law will be replaced by a more egalitarian and just law, and I will submit it,” Netanyahu said during the early Sunday morning meeting.

Netanyahu said the new law would include civilian national service for Arab citizens, who are currently not required to serve in the military.

Changing the Tal Law “must be done without setting public against public. The change will entail expanding frameworks and increasing budgets. This is high on the list of priorities for the security of the state,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu also reportedly told the reservists that he would be willing to go to early elections over changing the law.

Meanwhile, opposition leader Shaul Mofaz, head of the Labor Party, as well as the Kadima and Meretz parties have threatened to bring proposals for early elections before the Knesset in the coming days. Likud coalition partner Israel Beiteinu has also threatened to bring a request for early elections over amending the Tal Law, with party leader Avigdor Lieberman saying on a Saturday news show that: “Our obligation to the coalition is over. We have an obligation to voters as well.”

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.