Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion made the momentous decision at a meeting of the Provisional National Council not to conscript yeshiva students, initiating a policy that would shape Israeli society and spark a decades-long debate over exemptions from military service.
The Provisional National Council met on a Friday in early October, two days before Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) 1948. The new nation’s first Rosh Hashanah was filled with an atmosphere of holiness and new beginnings, but also tension and concern about the future of Israel’s difficult war for independence.
“Nation Building and Judgment Day” was the headline in the newspaper. DavalThis headline epitomizes the atmosphere of the time.
The previous day it had been announced that Professor Chaim Weizmann, Chairman of the Israeli Provisional National Council, would arrive in Israel and become the first President of the State of Israel – all unprecedented and historic events.
For example, the “Skymaster” plane in which Weizmann arrived in Israel was “the first Hebrew aircraft registered with the Israeli Aviation Authority.” Hatzofeh “All 14 double entrants were Jewish,” the newspaper reported.
At the same meeting of the Provisional National Council, then Prime Minister and Minister of Defense David Ben-Gurion reported the decision not to conscript yeshiva students. Seven months earlier, even before the declaration of independence, Chief of Staff Israel Galili had instructed his division commanders that “according to the approved rosters, yeshiva students are exempt from military service.” Galili noted that this instruction only applied to 1948.
The Shaping of Religious-Secular Relations in Israel
However, in early 1949, Ben-Gurion extended the directive. Shortly thereafter, he reported for the first time the number of exemptions, prompting Rep. Meir Grabovsky (Argov) to ask him at a meeting of the Knesset Security Committee, “Is it true that yeshiva students are not required to enlist, and that as a result their numbers have increased?”
Ben-Gurion responded: “The Defense Ministry members of the Association turned to him and said that there were 400 yeshiva students. [ … and that] Drafting it would lead to the closure of yeshivas.”
Journalist and historian Tom Segev argues in his biography that Ben-Gurion’s policy of not defining the relationship between religion and state in law was one of the principles by which he dealt with religious leaders. According to Segev, Ben-Gurion believed in avoiding theological conflicts whenever possible and managing ideological divisions politically.
Another principle that guided the first prime minister in his relations with the religious population was the recognition that there was no symmetry between religious and secular Jews. In other words, religious Jews fervently defend the foundations of their faith, while most secular Jews do not. This principle resulted in greater tolerance among secular Jews, as seen when Ben-Gurion agreed to exempt yeshiva students from military service.
It did not take long for this issue to resurface in public debate, especially with the growing number of exemptions based on “Torato umanuto” (the Hebrew word for Torah study being a vocation).
In 1958, during his second term as prime minister, Ben-Gurion hinted in a letter to Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Herzog, grandfather of President Isaac Herzog, that he had initially intended to exempt yeshiva students from military service in order to protect the Torah world that had been all but wiped out during the Holocaust.
Israeli Yeshiva Students and Military Service
Ben-Gurion acknowledged that his original intentions had changed significantly over the years, saying, “When we exempted yeshiva students from military service 10 years ago, their numbers were small, and from what I heard at the time, this was the only country where Torah scholars remained.”
“Nevertheless, I am pleased that yeshiva students, like other city youth, participated in the defense of Jerusalem. During the War of Independence, Haredim enlisted to defend their land, not just Jerusalem,” the prime minister wrote to the chief rabbi.
Ben-Gurion continued, “The situation has since changed. The number of yeshiva students has increased. I do not know whether the accusation is based on any basis, since some people attend yeshivas to avoid responsibility. I would like to assume that the allegations are baseless. However, it is undeniable that over time the number of yeshiva students has increased, numbering in the thousands.”
In a foreign country, non-Jews do not rely on Israel’s defense. Here, we are all Jews, and our security depends only on ourselves. This is primarily a crucial moral question. Is it right for one mother’s son to risk his life for his homeland, while another mother’s son studies safely at home, when most Israeli youth are sacrificing themselves?
Over time, the exemption system evolved into a system of deferrals, which gradually increased in number; by 1975, the number had reached 7,357. The number of yeshiva students opting out of military service had been gradually increasing, but after the 1977 political upheaval, it became a major trend. The government of Menachem Begin expanded its coalition agreement with ultra-Orthodox parties, providing exemptions for the ultra-Orthodox.
The agreement now includes yeshiva students, with an emphasis on secondary and professional education. One of the clauses of the agreement states that “there shall be no limit on the number of yeshivas or the number of students who may study in them.”
Every few years, the need to regulate the issue resurfaced, during which time the number of exemptions due to “Toratam Umanutam” (the study of Torah is a vocation in Hebrew) reached approximately 63,000.Like other unresolved disputes in Israeli society, the issue eventually made its way to a contentious decision in the Supreme Court.
