The revised legislation calls for setting annual recruitment targets and imposing financial penalties on yeshivas that fail to meet these quotas.
In addition, it stipulates that the IDF look into establishing a new ultra-Orthodox battalion as well as a civil-technological service track and that the Defense Ministry take steps to prepare for the enlistment of previously exempt ultra-Orthodox men, Channel 12 reports.
The updated version removes from the measure — which is expected to be brought to the cabinet on Tuesday — a clause raising the exemption age for yeshiva students to 35, which had generated widespread pushback among both opposition and coalition lawmakers.
Despite the changes, the law does not appear to cancel the exemption for full-time students who fall under the category of Torato umanuto (Torah study is his main occupation).
It also calls for the legislation to be submitted to the Knesset by May 22, so that it can go through three readings and be passed into law by the end of June — and states if the proposal expires without being implemented, the government’s previous instructions regarding not enlisting Haredim will no longer apply.
This change appears to have been made to counter charges that the government hopes to delay the legislation until the fall Knesset recess and thus push the issue to next year.
The decision to amend the government’s proposal came after Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara warned that she would be unable to defend the proposed bill, and Finance Ministry released figures showing the economy taking a hit of over NIS 100 billion ($27.5 billion) over the next decade if the army extended the time recruits must serve rather than draft Haredim into the military.
Responding to the news of the reversal, National Unity chairman and war cabinet Minister Benny Gantz stated that while his party wants to come to an agreement on enlistment, it needed to see “a solution for recruitment, not an exemption from recruitment.” “I cannot be part of a government that passes such a law at all, and especially during wartime,” Gantz said, reiterating his earlier threat to bolt the coalition.
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid also came out strongly against the amended legislation, accusing the government of engaging in “fraud” and claiming that the government would not succeed in enlisting even one ultra-Orthodox soldier.
Lapid’s words were echoed by the hawkish opposition politician Avigdor Liberman, whose Yisrael Beytenu party has pushed its own universal draft proposal in recent months.
Liberman, a former defense minister, urged the High Court of Justice to reject the proposal, which he asserted would “perpetuate inequality and evasion,” and called on Gantz and Eisenkot to “resign from the government immediately.” “I also call on the Likud ministers to strongly oppose the decision, which constitutes treason in the view of Jabotinsky and Trumpeldor, who consecrated military service for the sake of Israel and the homeland,” he continued, referring to two early Zionist figures revered by the Israeli right.
Responding to rising discontent among his political allies, Prime Minister Netanyahu was said to tell ministers in his Likud party on Monday that without the law, his government would collapse.
According to Kan, Netanyahu sent a message to ministers in his Likud party that he will not give up on the legislation, and that without the law, the government will fall.
Coalition ministers reportedly spoke to people close to Netanyahu to explore the possibility of not supporting the law when they received the prime minister’s message.
A number of ultra-Orthodox politicians, such as UTJ leader and Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf, have recently expressed a willingness to discuss the enlistment of Haredi young men who are not scholars, but have threatened that if even “one real yeshiva student has to close his Talmud, there is no government.” In an interview with ultra-Orthodox media last week, Rabbi Moshe Maya, a senior member of Shas’s leading Council of Torah Sages, derided the idea that the IDF is facing a manpower shortage requiring the enlistment of Haredim, calling such claims “bluffs and incitement.” Even those who do not learn full-time in yeshiva should not enlist, Maya insisted, arguing that Haredi Torah learning provides the basis for Israel’s right to exist and that military service would lead ultra-Orthodox soldiers to abandon religion.
In addition to political obstacles, the legislation faces legal and financial hurdles too.
Baharav-Miara, the attorney general, warned that she would be unable to defend the proposal if it was challenged in court, due to unspecified “significant and essential difficulties.” In addit
After opposition from within his coalition and a warning from the attorney general that she would not be able to defend the proposed law as written, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu withdrew some of its provisions on Monday and released an amended version.
According to the amended law, yeshivas that don’t reach their annual recruitment quotas will be penalized financially.
Channel 12 reports that it also requires the Defense Ministry to start preparing for the enlistment of previously exempt ultra-Orthodox men, and that the IDF investigate the creation of a new ultra-Orthodox battalion in addition to a civil-technological service track.
The amended version eliminates a provision that would have raised the exemption age for yeshiva students to 35. The measure was met with strong opposition from both coalition and opposition lawmakers when it was first introduced to the cabinet on Tuesday.
The law does not seem to remove the exemption for full-time students who qualify as Torato umanuto (torah study being their primary occupation) in spite of the modifications.
The bill also specifies that the government’s prior directives prohibiting enlisting Haredim will no longer be applicable if it expires without being implemented and that it must be submitted to the Knesset by May 22 in order for it to pass after three readings and become law by the end of June.
This adjustment seems to have been made in response to accusations that the government intends to push the legislation until next year by delaying it until the fall Knesset recess.
Following warnings from Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara that she would not be able to defend the proposed bill and figures released by the Finance Ministry indicating that the economy would suffer over NIS 100 billion ($27.5 billion) over the next ten years if the army chose to extend the time recruits must serve instead of drafting Haredim into the military, the government decided to amend its proposal.
In response to the announcement of the reversal, Benny Gantz, the chairman of National Unity and Minister of War Cabinet, said that although his party is in favor of reaching a consensus on enlistment, it is in need of “a solution for recruitment, not an exemption from recruitment.”. “.
Speaking again, Gantz threatened to leave the coalition, saying, “I cannot be part of a government that passes such a law at all, and especially during wartime.”.
Leader of the Opposition Yair Lapid also voiced his strong opposition to the amended legislation, calling it a “fraud” and asserting that the government would fail to recruit a single ultra-Orthodox soldier.
Hawkish opposition politician Avigdor Liberman, whose Yisrael Beytenu party has been pushing its own universal draft proposal in recent months, echoed Lapid’s remarks.
Former defense minister Liberman demanded that Gantz and Eisenkot “resign from the government immediately” and urged the High Court of Justice to reject the proposal, claiming it would “perpetuate inequality and evasion.”. “.
“Jabotinsky and Trumpeldor, who consecrated military service for the sake of Israel and the homeland, view this decision as treason,” he continued, referencing the two early Zionists who are held in high regard by the Israeli right. “I also call on the Likud ministers to strongly oppose the decision.”.
Prime Minister Netanyahu is reported to have told Likud party ministers on Monday that his government would fall apart without the law in response to growing dissatisfaction among his political allies.
Kan claims that Netanyahu told Likud party ministers that the government will collapse if the legislation is not passed and that he will not give up on it. After getting the prime minister’s message, coalition ministers apparently discussed with Netanyahu’s associates the possibility of not supporting the legislation.
Some politicians who identify as ultra-Orthodox, like Yitzhak Goldknopf, the Housing Minister and leader of the U.T.J., have stated that they are open to talking about the recruitment of non-scholarly Haredi youth. However, they have also threatened to dissolve the government if even one genuine yeshiva student shuts down their Talmud. “.
A prominent member of Shas’s prominent Council of Torah Sages, Rabbi Moshe Maya, mocked the notion that the IDF is short-staffed and must recruit Haredim in an interview with ultra-Orthodox media last week. He called such claims “bluffs and incitement.”. “.
Maya insisted that people should not enlist, even if they do not study yeshiva full-time. She claimed that learning Haredi Torah is the foundation for Israel’s right to exist and that serving in the military would force ultra-Orthodox soldiers to give up their religion.
The legislation faces not only political but also financial and legal challenges.
Attorney General Baharav-Miara issued a warning, stating that because of unidentified “significant and essential difficulties,” she would not be able to defend the proposal in court. “.
Furthermore, as reported by Channel 12 news on Sunday, a memo prepared by the budgets department of the Finance Ministry estimated that extending mandatory military service would cost the economy NIS 104 billion ($28.5 billion) over the next ten years and necessitate an additional NIS 41 billion ($11 billion) in government fees.
Yogev Gardos, the department chief, signed the memo, which stated that mandatory service—which is currently 32 months for men and 24 months for women—could be shortened by seven months if the Haredi community enlisted at rates comparable to the non-Haredi Jewish community. Additionally, reservists would only need to be called up for a few days annually rather than several weeks.
Additionally, the study concluded that requiring Haredi men to wait until they are in their mid-30s in order to be eligible for exemptions would have a negative long-term impact on the Israeli economy and market. “.
By enrolling in yeshivas for Torah study and obtaining repeated one-year service deferrals until they reach the age of military exemption at 26, ultra-Orthodox men of military age have been able to avoid the draft for decades.
But according to Hebrew media, a large number of young ultra-Orthodox men who do not attend school full-time are reportedly enrolled in yeshivas in order to avoid the draft.
As was first reported on Sunday, there was no cap on the number of ultra-Orthodox men who could enlist each year in the first draft of Netanyahu’s proposed outline. Instead, it guaranteed that Haredi men who chose not to enlist would not be prosecuted and set the age of exemption from service at 35. It also included a proposal to create additional Haredi positions in the nation’s emergency services and government agencies, as well as to establish specialized ultra-Orthodox battalions in the IDF.
In addition to rejecting Netanyahu’s plan, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has appealed for a compromise, saying on Sunday that a flexible agreement on the issue was “essential for the existence and success of the IDF.” Gallant has stated he cannot support any legislation passed without broad agreement from all coalition parties, especially Gantz’s.
Since the start of the Gaza War, the government has activated 287,000 reservists in total, declared early draft dates for about 1,300 participants in pre-army programs, and pushed to greatly extend the service terms of both conscripts and reservists.
The latter plan was unveiled by the defense establishment last month and provoked strong opposition from politicians of all stripes, leading to several bills being pushed to remove the Haredim’s de facto exemptions.
The IDF’s Personnel Directorate reports that over the course of the previous year, approximately 66,000 young men from the Haredi community were granted an exemption from military service, which is believed to be a record.
The military would no longer be able to legally exempt Haredi young men from the draft and would have to begin enlisting them after a temporary regulation that extended the exemptions’ validity expires next week. The law that permits these exemptions expired in June 2023.
The government has been working quickly to pass a new version of the law as the deadline draws closer. Some coalition members, such as those from Likud and the far-right Religious Zionist party, have demanded that the Haredi community serve in the armed forces, while ultra-Orthodox parties want to maintain the current exemption.
By introducing and then withdrawing a change to the age of exemption, the government has been accused of using “the same shticks and tricks” by the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, which has petitioned the High Court of Justice to include the ultra-Orthodox.
“The adoption of a uniform and equal recruitment law that will apply to all is the only way to achieve equality in the burden, which is an existential necessity for the State of Israel and Israeli society,” the watchdog group stated in a statement on Monday.
