Former National Security Council head Tzachi Hanegbi slammed the newly proposed haredi draft law in a scathing post to X/Twitter on Friday morning.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu replaced Hanegbi in October.
"Next week, the Knesset will discuss the conscription law," Hanegbi wrote in his post, noting that "exactly 51 years ago, I began my basic training. Since then, all four of my sons have served in the IDF in significant roles. Five decades have passed, and the burden still falls on the shoulders of relatively few."
"The IDF needs an additional thousand fighters," he continued. "The proposed law, as is, does not advance this goal; it enables dodging, and endangers the future of the state."
"The Torah has preserved Israel through the generations, and Torah study is a precious value to the people of Israel. It is imperative to integrate it with the value of defending the state and its citizens."
Hanegbi went on to explain that his time serving on the National Security Council has shown him that the "IDF knows how to successfully integrate these two values," and that it is up to the "government and the Knesset to ensure that this is done without further delay."
Bismuth advances updated ultra-Orthodox IDF draft bill
Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Boaz Bismuth (Likud) on Thursday distributed the updated text of the government’s haredi ultra-Orthodox (haredi) draft bill to the committee’s members.
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 means that if the law is passed in the coming weeks, all economic and institutional sanctions imposed on haredi institutions over the past year will be 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 at a haredi institution between the ages of 14-18 may fall under this category, even if they later left the community.
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.
Sarah Ben-Nun contributed to this article.