JERUSALEM (JTA) – The Har Bracha Yeshiva has been reinstated into the Hesder program, which combines yeshiva study with army service.

The yeshiva, located in the West Bank, was readmitted to the program on Monday by Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon.

It had been removed from the program in December 2009 by former Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who cut ties between the army and the yeshiva after the institution’s head, Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, refused repeated requests to meet with Barak over statements he reportedly had made urging his students to refuse orders, such as assisting in the evacuation of West Bank settlements and outposts.

Two other yeshivas also were added Monday to the list of about 40 hesder yeshivas throughout the country. Under the program, started in 1953, students combine 18 months of military service with more than three years of yeshiva study.