Conscription Law: Netanyahu hopes to reach understandings with the Haredim to prevent his government's collapse

People close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hope that it is still possible to reach understandings with the ultra-Orthodox parties regarding the conscription law and preventing the dissolution of the Knesset. The Knesset plenum is scheduled to vote on the preliminary reading of the bills to dissolve the Knesset tomorrow, Wednesday.

The ultra-Orthodox parties continue to insist on enacting a law exempting ultra-Orthodox citizens from military service and are threatening to support a bill to dissolve the Knesset, thereby bringing down the government. Meanwhile, Netanyahu is pressuring the ultra-Orthodox parties and the chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Yuli Edelstein, to reach a compromise. This committee is responsible for drafting the law.

Yesterday, Edelstein reiterated his position that personal sanctions on Haredim who refuse to enlist should take effect immediately after the law is passed, rather than after a year, as the Haredim demand. Sources close to Edelstein said, "If there are no sanctions from the outset, there will be no conscription law." Edelstein indicated that even if he agrees to easing sanctions, the legal adviser to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and the Knesset's legal adviser will overturn such easings.

It is estimated that Netanyahu will try at all costs to prevent the ultra-Orthodox parties from supporting the bill to dissolve the Knesset, fearing "a mechanism that could lead to the dissolution of the coalition, even if the coalition parties do not want it," Yedioth Ahronoth reported Tuesday.

The ultra-Orthodox parties made it clear to Netanyahu yesterday that they insist on supporting the dissolution of the Knesset. The United Torah Judaism bloc, comprised of the United Torah and Agudat Yisrael parties, announced that there had been no change in its position and that they did not believe Netanyahu was capable of presenting a draft bill acceptable to them. They declared that "even those who do not study Torah should not serve in the army."

While Netanyahu believes he can postpone final approval of the dissolution of the Knesset, a senior coalition source said that talks on the conscription law have reached a "dead end" and that there is no way to bridge the gap between the ultra-Orthodox demands and Edelstein's bill.

Haaretz quoted a senior political source involved in the talks surrounding the dissolution of the Knesset as saying, "The vote on Wednesday shouldn't be viewed in terms of a crisis. This is a preliminary reading only. Netanyahu's mission is to buy time and prevent the government from falling until the Knesset goes on recess at the end of July." The source claimed that Netanyahu could influence the pace of the dissolution bill's advancement through the Likud-controlled Knesset committee, and that the bill's progress could take anywhere from a week to several months.

In an attempt to prevent Shas party leader Aryeh Deri from reaching a compromise with Edelstein, two senior rabbis on the Shas Rabbinical Council, Moshe Maya and Shlomo Mahfouz, declared that they would not support a law that would include haredi conscription numbers. They joined a letter issued by Rabbi Moshe Tzadka, who is considered to be leading an extreme line against the conscription of yeshivot (haredi Torah seminaries) and has allied himself with the haredi group Neturei Karta, which recognizes Israel, in the struggle for haredi conscription exemptions.

Meanwhile, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has been trying to persuade ultra-Orthodox politicians, in talks with them over the past few days, not to bring down the government, Channel 13 reported, citing political sources. Huckabee considered that "the stability of the government is necessary to confront Iran." Yisrael Beiteinu party leader Avigdor Lieberman responded by saying, "This is an unprecedented and unreasonable statement."

The channel reported that Netanyahu's office was aware of Huckabee's discussions with the Haredim and that he was "satisfied" with them. Huckabee responded by saying, "The ambassador met with numerous Israeli officials. The content of the discussions remains personal."

Opposition leader Yair Lapid commented on the X platform, saying, "Since I have no doubt that Ambassador Huckabee respects Israel's independence and democracy, I hope and believe that the report that he is interfering in Israel's internal politics and trying to help Netanyahu against the Haredim in the conscription evasion law crisis cannot be true. Israel is not a vassal state."