Bismuth advances updated ultra-Orthodox IDF draft bill as Knesset prepares for decisive debates

The move comes as the government faces mounting pressure from the High Court of Justice. The court has ruled that the government cannot continue to fund yeshivot whose students do not serve, and that it must enact real enforcement against draft evasion.

Nevertheless, it offers the haredi sector a wide window of relief, including the immediate restoration of funding and benefits, minimal short-term enlistment obligations, and a delayed timeline for evaluating compliance.

At the center of the proposal is its definition of the “first draft year.” According to the bill, the first enlistment period begins the moment the law takes effect and runs until June 30, 2027.

This is politically explosive, because if the law is passed within the coming weeks, all the economic and institutional sanctions imposed on haredi institutions over the past year are nullified immediately, while the sector’s compliance with enlistment targets will not be reviewed again until mid-2027.

In effect, the haredi system would regain its benefits now, while the obligations are deferred for roughly a year and a half.

The bill also formalizes a broad and flexible definition of who counts as “haredi.” Anyone who studied in a haredi institution from the ages of 14-18 may fall under the category, even if they later left the community.

This expanded definition enlarges the pool counted toward enlistment targets and, critics argue, makes them easier to reach.

Another central feature of the draft is its treatment of national service. Under Bismuth’s outline, “security-oriented national service” outside the IDF – such as roles in the Israel Police, the Israel Prison Service, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), or certain Mossad-related tasks – is counted fully toward the enlistment quota.

This allows the government to include nonmilitary placements in recruitment figures, reducing direct pressure on IDF enlistment, which the military says it needs.

The proposal abandons several elements that appeared in earlier drafts.

It drops the demand for a separate quota of combat soldiers after the IDF warned that long-term combat forecasting is unrealistic.

It removes biometric-monitoring mechanisms previously discussed under former committee chairman Yuli Edelstein (Likud). It reshapes the oversight structure, reflecting a softer approach to enforcement.

Supporters of Bismuth’s plan say the updated draft is tighter than previous iterations, citing the compressed timetable for meeting initial enlistment targets.

This compression is largely technical, however, and the broader design of the bill creates a significant grace period, during which the haredi sector benefits from restored funding while facing limited or delayed pressure to increase enlistment.

Reaction has been fierce across the political spectrum. Edelstein denounced the new version as “not a conscription law at all,” saying it serves coalition needs rather than the IDF’s manpower requirements.

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett called it “the most anti-Zionist law in the state’s history,” saying it deepens the burden on reservists and active-duty soldiers.

“This is a declaration of war by the government on every reservist, every IDF soldier, and the entire serving public,” he said.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid vowed to oppose what he described as a capitulation of equality principles and a betrayal of combat soldiers and bereaved families.

Uri Keidar, CEO of Israel Hofsheet, a nonpartisan civic movement that works to change policy and legislation in religious-state relations, said the draft “proves yet again that Bismuth prioritizes the interests of the haredi parties and the political survival of Netanyahu’s government over the Israeli public.”

It is “a surrender document that shows blatant contempt for the hundreds of thousands of regular and reserve soldiers and their families who bore the load of the past two years,” he said.

Keidar vowed to fight the bill politically and legally. “Evasion will not pass without a determined, broad, and uncompromising struggle,” he said.

The Brothers in Arms protest movement said the bill was “a spit in the face of hundreds of thousands of IDF fighters.”

Bismuth had “provided official proof that he does not work for the defense establishment but for the Council of Torah Sages,” it said.

The bill is a coalition deal designed to perpetuate the exemption of tens of thousands of haredi young men, Brothers in Arms said.

“Any government that advances such a law after two years of war abandons national security and must go home,” it added.

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel said the proposal “is not a draft law – it is a draft-evasion law on steroids.”

It vowed to use every legal tool to block it.

Bismuth’s plan “does not aim to draft haredim but to legalize evasion and bypass the court’s ruling,” the NGO said, adding that the court had explicitly ruled out blanket exemptions.

A law that exempts haredim from combat service and treats nonmilitary roles as a solution to the shortage of fighters is “illegal, immoral, and harmful to national security,” it said.