Edelstein signs declaration calling for mass draft of Haredim, sanctions for dodgers
‘What do you want, 100,000 people in prison?’ Defense Minister Katz asks critics, defending his proposal to only induct half of eligible ultra-Orthodox by 2032
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"

Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein (Likud) pushed back Tuesday against coalition pressure to pass legislation exempting yeshiva students from military service, declaring that he “would only produce a real conscription law that will significantly increase the IDF’s conscription base.”
During a meeting with IDF reservists in his office following a debate on the conscription bill, Edelstein signed a declaration of principles calling for a number of measures starkly opposed to the government-backed plan currently being pushed by Defense Minister Israel Katz.
The document called for the “immediate” enlistment of 4,800 Haredim followed by the mobilization of all eligible Israelis, in accordance with the needs and capacity of the army, starting in 2026. It also calls for “personal and financial sanctions” against those who fail to obey draft orders.
Edelstein’s announcement that he had signed the declaration was made immediately following a heated committee debate in which opposition lawmakers repeatedly insisted that Katz’s plan to gradually increase ultra-Orthodox enlistment amounted to a government endorsement of draft dodging.
“You could have been the architect of the reconstruction of Israeli security, and instead you are condemning yourself here, for the second week in a row, to be the minister of evasion and refusal,” Opposition Leader Yair Lapid told Katz during a debate in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
Calling Katz’s proposal “fraud,” Lapid asserted that if passed it would ensure that “our children will continue to die, the families of the reservists will continue to collapse, and no Haredi will enlist.”

The barebones outline, which Katz first presented to the committee last week, calls for gradually increasing the number of Haredim drafted into the military until it hits 50 percent of the annual eligible Haredi draft cohort in 2032.
Katz has also insisted on the preservation of the “Torah world,” the network of full-time yeshivas that form the backbone of ultra-Orthodox society.
According to Hebrew media reports, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Edelstein on Monday to push him to advance the law, whose passage the coalition’s ultra-Orthodox members have long demanded.
Edelstein has blocked the bill’s progress, saying he “will not settle for a temporary solution or a process that will take many years.”
While Netanyahu refrained from making any explicit threats, those close to the prime minister informed Edelstein that he could be replaced as committee chairman if he does not play ball.
A spokesman for Edelstein denied that any threats had been issued, telling The Times of Israel that Netanyahu had asked him about the law and that the lawmaker had “explained the principles and the complexities to him.”

During Tuesday’s hearing, Katz pushed back against calls to begin mass conscription next year in line with the IDF’s statement that it will have the capacity to absorb Haredim “without any restrictions” starting in 2026.
“What do you want, 100,000 people in prison?” Katz asked, asserting that without buy-in from the community’s rabbinic leadership it would be impossible to move forward.
Katz argued that his proposal would see tens of thousands of new recruits join the military in the coming years.
Without going into significant detail, Katz also defended his plan’s inclusion of “real sanctions” on yeshivas and yeshiva students, should enlistment targets not be met — as well as “criminal sanctions on those who do not study and do not serve.”
With tensions running high, IDF reservist Yonatan Shalev began yelling at Katz and was forcibly ejected from the room. As he was removed, Shalev screamed that he had “fought for a year” and lost dozens of friends.
An IDF combat reservist is removed from the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee after yelling at Defense Minister Israel Katz over his ultra-Orthodox enlistment outline pic.twitter.com/HWA7CqnmhR
— Sam Sokol (@SamuelSokol) January 21, 2025
Shas MK Yinon Azulai came out strongly in support of Katz, telling the committee that he was “not sure that the army can absorb all the Haredim and wants to absorb all the Haredim.”
“Nothing will happen without consent,” he told the committee, maintaining that if conscription orders were sent out to all eligible Haredim, even those who would have otherwise enlisted would stay home.
“The fact that [United Torah Judaism MK] Yaakov [Asher] and I are sitting here indicates the agreement of the rabbis for us to hold talks,” he added.