יום חמישי, ב׳ אב תשפ״וThursday, July 16, 2026
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By Moshe Herman
Yishai and Knesset insider Jeremy Man Saltan talk about expanding Israel's transport system along with the potential passing and implementation of the Tal Law, which would mandate ultra-orthodox Jews serve in the IDF.
By Tzvi Fishman
The Rabbis of the religious Zionist community serve in the army; why shouldn’t Haredi Rabbis also be brave examples for their students?
Against the background of the expiration on August 1 of the Tal Law, which attempted to manage Haredi recruitment, the Moetzes Gdolei HaTorah (Assembly of Torah Sages), the supreme rabbinical policy-making council of several Haredi organizations in Israel convened Monday night in Bnei Brak at the home of leader of the Lithuanian sector, Rav Steinman, to solidify the policy of military conscription.
By JTA
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered the Israeli Defense Forces to draft Haredi men as it does other Jewish Israelis. The order came as the Tal Law, which allowed many Haredi men to defer army service, expired on Wednesday. Israel’s Supreme Court overturned the law in February. Israeli law mandates that Jewish Israelis enter the […]
As the deadline for the renewal of the Tal Law approaches and tens of thousands of people rallied to demand that all citizens of Israel perform national service, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a meeting of the Likud Knesset faction to discuss ways to include Hareidim in national and military service. With his party in agreement, the prime minister is on his way to drafting new legislation.
A government coalition effort to craft a revised version of the Tal Law, whereby a sizeable number of draft eligible haredi yeshiva students would be forced to choose between joining the Israel Defense Forces or partake in Sherut Leumi (alternative national service), could become a political quagmire for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as Kadima Party leader Shaul Mofaz is threatening to bolt the unity government over a lack of progress toward finding a solution.
Two Haredi men ride a camel on the Mount of Olives. The Knesset committee tasked with crafting an alternative to the Tal Law for haredi service in Israel is reportedly almost done drafting its proposal. According to the plan, Haredi men would perform two years of national or military service (in contrast to the three […]
By Rabbi Shimshon HaKohen Nadel
In the early days of Statehood, when Rabbi Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz, the famed Chazon Ish, and other leading rabbis reached a compromise with David Ben Gurion to provide military exemptions for yeshiva students, only some 400 students were exempted. Writing about a Milchemet Mitzvah, the Chazon Ish himself recognized that “if there is a need for them, they must come to the aid of their brethren.”
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s decision to form a coalition government with Kadima and cancel planned early elections has inspired endless speculation as to his motives. Some maintain he was seeking a unity government in order to bolster his position with regard to Iran. Others point to his desire to be better able to deal with certain domestic issues such as election reform and changes to the Tal Law.
On the issue of ultra-Orthodox military service, 41% of those surveyed said they would be moderately or very interested in joining the Haredi IDF program, while 59% said they had either little or no interest. Still, the percentage of interest is substantially higher than the current annual rate of Haredi enlistment in the IDF.
The intensifying focus on legislating an alternative to the Tal Law has the ultra-Orthodox parties in the Likud-led coalition defensive yet intractable. Shas and UTJ - representing 15 seats in the government - have declared that they will not participate in the coalition committee on finding an alternative.
Netanyahu: "By the end of July, we will pass a law that will divide the burden on a more equal, more egalitarian and more just basis for all Israelis, Jewish and Arab alike, without setting public against public."
Israel Beytenu Chairman: "The residents who have lived in Givat Ulpana for years are law-abiding citizens. This is not an illegal outpost. It is the state's mistake, and it must take responsibility. There are ways to regulate the matter with legislation."
A joint JoeSettler-Jameel post. Left behind in the wake of Netanyahu’s surprise unity maneuver are some serious winners and loser. There is no doubt that elections would have shaken things up, but this unity coalition shakes up things even more. What Netanyahu managed to do today is of historic proportions and has some serious ramifications […]
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a Likud Party convention called for a four-month election campaign. Meanwhile, coalition partner Yisrael Beiteinu called for a delay of the Knesset dissolution to allow the government to pass its bill ordering mandatory enlistment in the Israel Defense Forces for all Israeli citizens.
By JTA
The Likud Party, which leads the ruling coalition, has submitted a bill to dissolve the current Knesset and is pushing for new elections on Sept. 4.
According to Ma'ariv's Mazal Mu'alem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose father passed away this morning, will nevertheless start talks this week with the leaders of his coalition partners to reach an agreement on a date for a "lightening speed" election. Netanyahu is interested in setting the earliest possible date, which would be August 14, or, […]
An officer close to the issue told the Jewish Press: "It is not that we turned away 100 soldiers - had they come to us we would have taken them anyway. But we were told to stop our Haredi outreach efforts which would have netted more recruits. The Tal Law is the big story though. If a new law does not pass we will be in a position to draft 60,000 Haredi soldiers in August."
By Moshe Herman
Yishai and Malkah talk about their excitement for snow in Israel, an Arab rock-throwing attack against American Legislators, an ancient Judean palm tree grows today, the expiration of a law allowing ultra-Orthodox Jews to avoid military service, and Yishai’s Tu B’Shevat Seder in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York.
By Rafi Harkham
The 9th president of the Supreme Court of Israel, Beinisch presided over an active term, in which she wrote landmark decisions like the 2005 ruling against the IDF’s use of “human shields,” the 2007 ruling that Israel's separation fence route must be modified, and the 2009 ruling declaring private prisons unconstitutional. But the most memorable ruling of her legacy may be her penultimate one – the High Court's revocation of the Tal Law.
By Rafi Harkham
The Knesset has quickly assumed a proactive role in filling the void left by the the Israeli High Court's decision to annul the Tal Law. Two bills pertaining to mandatory service were already debated and voted upon today, Opposition chairwoman Tzipi Livni continued to blast the low enlistment rate of the Haredi population, and FM Avigdor Lieberman pledged to propose more legislation on the matter in the future.
Lapid: "By the 31st of July . . . behind our backs, as always, they will extend the Tal Law again."
Meir Dagan expresses opposition to the law.
PM Netanyahu recently said that the law would be extended another five years.
The law sought to increase the numbers of ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students serving in the IDF.
July 10, 2026 
