Yeshiva students

The long way home: Free after decade in Iraqi prison, Benjamin Hassin begins new life in Jerusalem

DIASPORA AFFAIRS: Just over a month ago, on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, Benjamin Hassin landed on Israeli soil for the first time in 12 years.

Benjamin Hassin overlooks the Western Wall, just weeks after returning to Israel following more than 11 years in Iraqi prisons, including nearly five years under a death sentence.
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men block a road and clash with police during a protest against the jailing of yeshiva students who failed to comply with Israeli military draft orders, in Jerusalem, August 2, 2026.

Israel Police says 143 draft evaders were released as IDF failed to meet detention deadlines

Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion addresses Torah MiTzion’s 30th-anniversary celebration at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem on October 13, 2026

Torah MiTzion marks 30 years of strengthening ties between Israel, Diaspora Jewry

Argentina's President Javier Milei attends a meeting of the Shield of the Americas on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, US, September 22, 2026.

Argentine President Javier Milei dances with yeshiva students after receiving Lover of Israel prize


High Court: Haredi students with unsettled military status won't get national insurance discounts

Yeshiva students who have not settled their status with the military or procured a valid exemption will not be eligible for relevant discounts on national insurance.

 Haredim protest against the IDF draft outside Tel Hashomer recruitment base, April 28. 2025.

Yeshiva students seize house in Hebron's old city for dorms

A press release from the yeshiva claimed that this was the first time Jews had entered the old city since 1929.

Students from Yeshiva Shavei Hevron claim the Valero house in the old city.

A need to pass on wisdom: Yeshiva, academia has failed to produce new sages - opinion

We need sages. And the yeshiva and academia have failed to methodically produce sages. But we can fix that.

Rabbi Baruch Mordechai Ezrachi delivers a torah lesson at Ateret Yisrael Yeshiva in Jerusalem, November 19, 2019.

International yeshiva students answer IDF's call as Har Etzion breaks records

This week, 32 overseas students from the prestigious yeshiva will be drafting into the IDF alongside their Israeli peers – the highest number in the yeshiva’s 56-year history.

HARAV AHARON LICHTENSTEIN, longtime rosh Yeshivat Har Etzion, with IDF soldiers in 2008.

Bismuth elected FADC head, ousting Edelstein over haredi draft bill

Edelstein, prior to the vote, published for the first time the draft of the conscription law, which was sent to committee members. 

MK Boaz Bismuth attends a Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem July 8, 2025

'To Be Holy but Human': A look into the life ‘hesder yeshiva’ creator Rabbi Yehuda Amital - review

One of a kind: Rav Amital was that unique and unparalleled leader who lived at a time when he was needed the most.

Israelis carry the body of Rabbi Yehuda Amital during his funeral in Jerusalem, on July 09, 2010

Yeshiva students spat at, insulted by Arab man with knife in Lucerne, Switzerland

An Arab man with a knife approached a group of yeshiva students while shouting antisemitic insults and 'free Palestine' in Lucerne, Switzerland.

 People walk past as Swiss police vehicles stand by to prevent expected illegal gatherings amid restrictions due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, in the old town of Zurich, Switzerland, April 9, 2021.

'We failed, made a mistake' on judicial reform, haredi draft bill deal, UTJ's Goldknopf says

UTJ was told to support the judicial reform as it would allow for a "basic law of Torah study," and another law as an override clause, Yitzhak Goldknopf claimed in an interview with Kikar HaShabbat.

 Yitzhak Goldknopf at a United Torah Judaism meeting at the Knesset, Jerusalem, May 19, 2025.

Deri and Lapid clash over IDF draft law, sanctions on ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students

Aryeh Deri responded to the Attorney-General's discussion on the High Court of Justice consideration over the draft law and the plan to toughen sanctions against yeshiva students who don't enlist.

A view of the Shas party offices in Jerusalem, June 4, 2025

IDF soldiers killed due to yeshivas 'neglecting Torah study', former chief rabbi claims

Yitzhak Yosef condoled the families of the five soldiers killed in Gaza's Beit Hanun in an open letter, calling for increased Torah study, implicitly denouncing haredi draft attempts.

 Shas spiritual leader and former Sephardic chief rabbi, Yitzhak Yosef, seen during a weekly lecture at the Yazdim synagogue in Jerusalem, June 07, 2025; illustrative.