Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairperson Boaz Bismuth (Likud) announced that he submitted a document of the updated outline of the controversial haredi (ultra-Orthodox) draft law to the committee’s legal advisor on Thursday.
“Based on this document, a draft law will be formulated in the coming days to guide the committee in continuing the legislative process to regulate the issue of military conscription,” Bismuth’s office stated.
The outline of Bismuth’s draft lays out principles under which 50% of the haredi draft cohort will be enlisted within five years, the exemption age will be set at 26, and yeshiva budgets will only be reduced after one year, according to a KAN News report.
In the outline, personal sanctions on draft dodgers will be introduced gradually over two years, and only if the enlistment targets are not met, the report added.
Bismuth said he would like to thank Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “for his full support throughout the process.”
He also thanked former MK Ariel Atias of the haredi Shas Party “for his cooperation and significant involvement” in aiding with the outline.
Shas, UTJ departed from government in July over fallout due to draft law
Shas, and the other haredi party in the Knesset, United Torah Judaism, departed from the government in July in the fallout of negotiations over the draft law.
According to sources close to Shas head, Arye Deri, presentation of the law’s principles alone would be sufficient to justify the party’s return to the government table at the opening of the Knesset session, as per KAN News.
The Knesset will return for its winter session next week, after it was on break for its summer recess. During the recess, no laws are passed in the plenum; however, committee meetings to work on advancing laws still take place.
After the resignation of the two haredi parties from the government, the former chairperson of the Knesset committee to pass the law, Yuli Edelstein, was ousted from his position and replaced by Bismuth.
Throughout the summer, Bismuth has been leading the committee meetings to advance the law.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) slammed the outline for the draft law, saying that it sends a message to the soldiers that all that matters to Bismuth and Netanyahu “ is politics and appeasing the draft dodgers.”
Former prime minister said “on this very day, the national memorial day for October 7, they’re trying in the shadows to push through a draft-dodging law, stitched together between the ultra-Orthodox MKs and Likud.”
The Israel Hofsheet movement CEO, Uri Keidar, said, “Bismuth is trying to fast-track the evasion legislation for which he was appointed.”