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A Jewish Angeleno looks back several decades and wonders whether the golden age of LA Jewry is behind us.

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TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel’s parliament has approved laws that effectively halt the enlistment of ultra-Orthodox men in the country’s military in a last-ditch effort by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition to woo religious political parties ahead of elections in the fall.

Lawmakers voted in a marathon session on Monday and Tuesday to both freeze the arrests of ultra-Orthodox draft evaders and to enshrine Jewish religious studies as a “foundational value” of the state.

Both laws represent significant concessions by Netanyahu’s Likud party to ultra-Orthodox politicians seeking to formalize their community’s de facto exemption from serving in the military, which is compulsory for most Jewish men and women in Israel.

The military is already grappling with troop shortages and many Israelis have grown tired of the longstanding system that allowed ultra-Orthodox men to avoid service. Each year, roughly 13,000 ultra-Orthodox men reach the conscription age of 18, but less than 10% enlist, according to a parliamentary committee.

The laws come in the wake of nearly three years of wars — from Gaza to Lebanon and Iran — and ahead of the Knesset’s break for the summer recess. It will return just days before the next parliament elections on Oct. 27, a vote that will also be a referendum on Netanyahu’s wartime leadership.

The prime minister, who has served more terms than any other premier in Israel’s history, is courting the support of the ultra-Orthodox, also known as Haredim, in the upcoming polls.

“Netanyahu is trying to ensure that Haredim are going to negotiate only with him after the next elections,” said Shlomit Ravitsky Tur-Paz, head of the religious and state program at the Israel Democracy Institute think tank.

But Netanyahu faces stiff opposition, including from within his own party and even the military chief of staff, Ravitsky Tur-Paz said.

In a letter to Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, military chief Eyal Zamir criticized the bills, describing them as “clearly and unequivocally inconsistent” with the military’s needs, according to local media reports.

“It is inconceivable that the military system under my command, which demands unprecedented sacrifice from its personnel, would be party to granting mass exemptions from prosecution,” he wrote.

The exemptions for the ultra-Orthodox date back to the 1948 founding of Israel, when a small number of students sought to revive the Jewish scholarship system after it was decimated during the Holocaust.

Israel’s Supreme Court later ruled that the exemptions are illegal. Experts say the law formalizing the study of the Torah, Judaism’s foundational text, grants the state a legal basis from which to oppose the court’s opinions.

The law is “an utter desecration of God’s name” that is “spitting in the face” of Israeli soldiers, said opposition leader Yair Lapid.

For Moshe Gafni, an ultra-Orthodox lawmaker who sponsored the bill, its passage is historic.

“For thousands of years, Torah study was the force that preserved the Jewish people throughout their diaspora and all generations,” he said, adding that the law “will be a compass for the values of the state.”

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Melzer reported from Nahariya, Israel.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya’s High Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition seeking to legalize the use of cannabis by Rastafarians for religious purposes.

Justice Bahati Mwamuye said Kenya’s laws prohibiting the cultivation and use of marijuana do not violate Rastafarians’ right to freedom of religion. Granting the community an exemption would require a sound constitutional and legal foundation, he added.

Mwamuye, however, said Kenya should hold a national debate on its drug policy.

“This is not just a question for the Rastafari community but one that cuts across society,” he said.

Kenya’s Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act prohibits the cultivation, possession and use of marijuana. Rastafarians had petitioned the court to exempt them from the law, arguing that cannabis is central to their religious practices.

Smoking marijuana is punishable by a fine of up to $2,000, imprisonment for up to 10 years, or both. Drug trafficking carries stiffer penalties, including higher fines and longer prison terms.

In his ruling, Mwamuye said the petitioners had failed to establish the constitutional and legal basis necessary for the court to exempt them from the provisions of the drugs act.

The petitioners’ lawyer, Shadrack Wambui, said they would appeal the decision in the Court of Appeal.

Following the ruling, Rastafarians gathered at Nairobi’s Freedom Corner, where they chanted, beat drums and smoked marijuana in protest.

Wanjiru Gakiu, 60, who has practiced Rastafarianism for 34 years, said she was “disappointed” by the ruling and described Kenya’s drug laws as “satanic.”

“I’m sure if we were seeking to legalize something satanic, we would have been allowed. But when it comes to religion, the country is deaf and doesn’t want us to enjoy our religious rights,” she told The Associated Press.

Some Kenyans hope marijuana will not be legalized citing other religions practiced in the country.

“I am very happy about it (the judgment) because, as a Christian, I wouldn’t advocate for use of marijuana in our country,” said Nairobi resident Jedidah Ng’ang’a.

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