A marathon of back-to-back meetings on the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) conscription bill took place in the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday, with lawmakers criticizing the legislation for not being nearly effective enough.
The continued discussions on the bill come after the chairperson of the committee, MK Boaz Bismuth (Likud), laid out his updated version of the legislation to the panel on Monday.
The outline faced major pushback from multiple coalition members, along with opposition MKs, narrowing the chances of the bill’s current outline passing its second and third readings when later brought to the Knesset’s plenum to become a law.
Among the vocal critics of the legislation in the coalition are Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Heskel (New Hope-United Right), MK Dan Illouz (Likud), and former Foreign Affairs and Defense committee chairperson MK Yuli Edelstein (Likud).
Heskel told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday that the legislation is a “political solution for a security issue,” which could lead to another defense crisis like the October 7 Hamas massacre, due to the IDF’s “severe lack of manpower.”
Opposition leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) also vowed that the opposition would vote down the bill in a statement at a Monday Knesset press conference.
Lapid said he knew of nine coalition members who publicly spoke against the bill and was in contact privately with additional coalition MKs who would also turn down the bill.
Religious Zionist Party speak against haredi draft bill
Various members of the Religious Zionist Party have also spoken against the current outline of the bill, including Aliyah and Integration Minister Ofir Sofer.
Support from the members of the Religious Zionist Party is considered key in determining if the legislation will be able to pass.
The two haredi parties - Shas and United Torah Judaism - left the government in July over disagreements surrounding the bill, which had previously been advanced by Edelstein.
Critics of the revised bill argue that it still fails to enforce haredi conscription, stalls time, and attempts to appease the haredi parties to return to the government.
Some main changes in the bill that have led to criticism include a broader definition of who is considered haredi, softening sanctions on draft evaders under the age of 23, and ending sanctions on draft evaders at the age of 26.
An additional change is allowing for civil-security service to count as ten percent of the haredi conscription quota.
The Knesset panel on Tuesday focused on section 26(b) of the legislation, which addresses the integration of members of the haredi community into the civil-security service.
Edelestien told the panel, “It goes against reason” to count national service as part of the country’s conscription goals.
Bismuth said at the conclusion of the discussion that the panel would now progress to looking at other sections of the bill moving forward.
Last month, the High Court ruled that the state cannot simultaneously avoid drafting tens of thousands of yeshiva students and continue funding their institutions. It ordered the government to craft a genuine enforcement plan within 45 days.
Sarah Ben-Nun contributed to this report.