Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee

Benjamin Netanyahu: October 7 massacre was an 'intelligence failure, but not a betrayal'

On Iran, Netanyahu told the Knesset's defense committee that Israel would "respond with force never before seen" should the Islamic Republic choose to carry out strikes against Israeli targets.

|ByTZVI JASPER, KESHET NEEV
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee meeting at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, February 5, 2026
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet seen at the Knesset plenum, June 11, 2025

Outcome of state budget vote uncertain amid coalition crisis over haredi draft

By law, if the state budget is not approved in all three readings by the end of March, when the fiscal year closes, the Knesset will automatically dissolve, and elections will be called.

|ByKESHET NEEV
Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel, as she marches on a three-day journey from Kfar Saba to Jerusalem to protest the current outline of the haredi conscription bill.

80 km. on foot: Sharren Haskel’s three-day march in protest of haredi draft bill - interview

“I couldn’t just sit there and continue to argue and see they’re not changing their minds,” Haskel told the Post about the marathon discussions on the bill taking place in the Knesset.

|ByKESHET NEEV
Ultra-Orthodox Jews carry a banner in Hebrew that reads, “to prison and not the army,” during a “million man” protest against military conscription, in Jerusalem October 30, 2025.

Netanyahu cancels statement on haredi draft bill as opposition slams legislation

Opposition leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) responded that Netanyahu canceled his statement “because he knows we know the details of the draft-evasion law, and he has no way to defend it.”

|ByKESHET NEEV

Aliyah Minister Sofer vows to vote against haredi draft bill, 'even if Netanyahu fires me'

RZP's Ofir Sofer to oppose draft legislation, defying faction head Bezalel Smotrich • Bismuth brings new haredi draft bill outline to Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee

DECEMBER 1, 2025ByKESHET NEEV
Aliyah and Integration Minister Minister Ofir Sofer holds a press conference at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, December 1, 2025