The Council of Torah Sages, ruling the Agudat Yisrael faction, convened on Wednesday evening to discuss their position on the controversial haredi (ultra-Orthodox) draft bill.
The rabbis did not reach a decision regarding their stance on the matter, a United Torah Judaism (UTJ) spokesperson told The Jerusalem Post. The Agudat Yisrael faction makes up UTJ, along with the Degel Hatorah faction.
Reports, however, indicate that the council made an internal decision to reject the sanctions placed on draft evaders in a section within the current bill.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly sent a message to Agudat Yisrael ahead of the Council of Sages' meeting, asking that they not decide on the draft law yet, as its wording is expected to change, according to KAN News.
Approval to advance the bill by the haredi parties - Shas and United Torah Judaism - could determine the future of Netanyahu's coalition.
The attempts at passing the bill come at a critical time ahead of the 2026 state budget vote, which could trigger elections in the country if it does not receive enough votes to be passed in the Knesset by the end of March.
Shas threatens 2026 budget deadlock over haredi draft bill
Shas threatened on Monday that it would not vote on the 2026 state budget unless the controversial haredi conscription law is passed, party spokesperson Asher Medina said.
The Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee is holding a full day of discussions on the bill on Thursday, led by committee chairperson MK Boaz Bismuth (Likud).
Critics of the new outline of Bismuth’s bill argue that it fails to enforce haredi conscription, stalls time, and is a political solution that attempts to appease the haredi parties to return to the government after they resigned in protest of an earlier version of the bill in July.
Political figures in the haredi parties have called for the haredim to be exempted from the military and to remove sanctions on the draft evaders.
United Torah Judaism chairperson Yitzhak Goldknopf requested haredim be "exempted from everything" in the Knesset on Sunday.
Marathon meetings have been taking place to advance the bill ever since Bismuth laid out his revised version.
Meanwhile, the IDF has repeatedly warned that it urgently lacks manpower in combat units, especially after over two years of war.
The meetings on Sunday focused for the first time on the sanctions section for draft evaders, which has been widely criticized as far too lenient and ineffective in enforcing conscription to the IDF in Bismuth's revised version.