Defense Minister Ehud Barak created the Tal Committee, led by the former Supreme Court justice, to examine the legality of the automatic exemption of haredim from serving in the IDF.
Based on the committee’s findings, the Tal Law was passed in 2002 as a temporary law which needs to be renewed every five years. The bill enables a continuation of the exemptions to yeshiva students subject to the detailed conditions within the bill.
According to the law, at the age of 22, yeshiva students are provided with a “decision year” and can choose between one-year civilian service alongside a paying job or a shortened 16-month military service and future service in the reserves as an alternative to continuing to study.
A number of motions against the law were later filed with the High Court of Justice, claiming that it violated the principle of equality.In 2005, the state admitted in a response to a Supreme Court petition that the Tal Law had failed to change enlistment arrangements for haredim, as only a few dozen had enlisted to the army as a result of it. The law was then extended in 2007 by another five years.In February 2012, the High Court of Justice ruled that the law is unconstitutional. Israel Kasnett contributed to this report.