Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not attend the vote on the Basic Law: Torah Study at all. Two days later he showed up for the second bill, took his seat, then left before lawmakers cast their votes. Opposition members shouted "shame" and "go" as he walked out. Both bills passed that week, both years in the making, both centered on military service for ultra-Orthodox men. The first enshrines Torah study as a fundamental value in Israel's Basic Law, the constitutional lay

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not attend the vote on the Basic Law: Torah Study at all. Two days later he showed up for the second bill, took his seat, then left before lawmakers cast their votes. Opposition members shouted "shame" and "go" as he walked out. Both bills passed that week, both years in the making, both centered on military service for ultra-Orthodox men. The first enshrines Torah study as a fundamental value in Israel's Basic Law, the constitutional lay