The government approved on Sunday a proposal to reduce the age of exemption from military service for yeshiva students from 24 to 21.
According to the outline, after the completion of the legislative process in Knesset, the exemption age will be reduced immediately for the next two years. The following year, it will be raised to 22 and again to 23 a year later.
At any stage, yeshiva students will be able to get a release from mandatory IDF service as early as 21 and join the labor market through vocational training or training for security or emergency and rescue services.
All ministers voted in favor of the outline, as stipulated in coalition agreements, except for Public Security Minister Omer Barlev.
Ministers also voted to establish an expert panel that will examine the issue of military and civil service in the sector and will devise a new enlistment outline.
The panel will also review subsistence allowance for conscripts and benefits for discharged servicemen. It is slated to present its conclusions by November 2022.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett welcomed the move and said that it will greatly contribute to the integration of the ultra-Orthodox sector in the labor market.
"The integration of the ultra-Orthodox sector in the labor market is a top priority for all of us. I am personally excited, this is a historic move for the future of Israel," Bennett said.