Knesset Legal Adviser Warns Torah Bill May Extend Combatant Benefits

Knesset Legal Adviser Sagit Afik warned the House Committee that Basic Law: Torah Study must say clearly that it is declarative only and does not change how state benefits are divided between Torah learners and service members. Reports said Afik told lawmakers there is a legal possibility that benefits now given to service members could also have to be extended to full-time Torah learners under the bill, including academic-study grants and land discounts. The warning came during deliberations on a Basic Law that seeks to honor Torah study as a foundational value in Israel. The hearing left lawmakers weighing how to draft the bill so the Torah-study declaration does not alter benefit eligibility for soldiers, reservists and yeshiva students.