Israel’s Education Ministry has issued a new nationwide directive requiring state schools to allow students to lay tefillin on school grounds during breaks, bringing clear rules to an issue that had sparked repeated confrontations over the past year.

The Director General’s Circular, advanced by Education Minister Yoav Kisch, requires school administrations to arrange a respectful place and suitable conditions for students who wish to lay tefillin, while ensuring that it is done during free time and does not interfere with classroom learning.

“Laying tefillin in the Jewish state should not be a matter of controversy or local interpretation,” Kisch said after the directive was published. “The lack of clear regulations over the years created friction and uncertainty that harmed students, parents, and school administrations.”

The move follows several incidents in Israeli schools, including at Ohel Shem High School in Ramat Gan, where tefillin brought by students were confiscated, and at Gymnasia Herzliya in Tel Aviv, where a confrontation broke out after a student sought to lay tefillin near the school with the help of a Chabad activist.

At the time, Kisch pledged to protect the right of students to lay tefillin in every school. “This is a basic right and a fundamental value in a Jewish state,” he said. “The education system under my leadership is bringing Jewish … identity back to the center, and laying tefillin is an inseparable part of that.”

According to Hebrew media reports, legal advisers in the Education Ministry objected to the move under the banner of “equality,” arguing that if schools provide a place for Jewish students to lay tefillin, they should also be required to provide prayer spaces for Muslim and Christian students. The demand was rejected and was not included in the final directive.

“In the State of Israel, the Jewish and democratic state, a student should not be afraid to lay tefillin,” Kisch said. “He will not be punished and will not be reprimanded because he asked to fulfill this mitzvah.”

The final directive sets a practical framework for tefillin in state schools, making clear that Jewish students may fulfill the mitzvah during their free time without being dependent on the personal stance of a principal or teacher.