Knesset legal adviser: Replacing defense panel head could taint Haredi enlistment law

Day before vote to replace Yuli Edelstein with Boaz Bismuth, Sagit Afik says legislative process would be marred if new chairperson comes ‘pre-committed’ to specific legislation

Knesset legal adviser Sagit Afik told members of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Sunday that the coalition’s bid to replace the panel’s chairman could cast a shadow on its efforts to enshrine the Haredi community’s exemption from military service.

Replacing Yuli Edelstein with fellow Likud lawmaker Boaz Bismuth for ostensibly political reasons “could critically affect the integrity of the legislative process” and “disrupt the shaping of the bill,” wrote Afik.

The Knesset House Committee is set to vote at 11 a.m. Monday to formally remove Edelstein, after Likud lawmakers voted overwhelmingly last week to replace him with Bismuth, who was endorsed by Likud chief Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. If the vote passes, the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee will vote at 2:30 p.m. to confirm the appointment, formally ousting Edelstein from the powerful post.

Also on Monday, the cabinet is expected to vote to oust Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who has demanded the government lay out plans to increase enforcement against ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers.

Edelstein’s ouster is widely seen as a gesture by Netanyahu to ultra-Orthodox factions that quit the government last month, accusing Edelstein of torpedoing the Haredi enlistment law by insisting it include harsh sanctions against individuals who evade the draft.

Writing to members of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Afik said Knesset regulations do not address the removal of committee heads except in cases where they are indicted or under investigation for suspected crimes.

Likud MK Boaz Bismuth (left) speaks with party colleague Yuli Edelstein during a discussion on a non-binding proposal to apply sovereignty over the West Bank, in the Knesset on July 23, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Therefore, she said, appointing a new committee head — as opposed to a regular committee member — required the “complex procedure” of approval by that committee following the recommendation of the House Committee.

Afik added that the Knesset “should avoid replacing a serving committee chair for political reasons,” and may do so only in “truly exceptional cases.”

If Bismuth assumes the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairmanship when he is “pre-committed to passing a specific version” of the enlistment bill, then “this conduct alone will pose a flaw that strikes at the root of the legislative process,” according to Afik.

Instead, she said, he must head the committee “in good faith” and hold discussions on a timetable that reflects the requisite deliberation, and “not the political timetable of the government,” she said.

Ultra-Orthodox protesters sit on a road, blocking traffic, in front of a mounted police officer, during a demonstration against the Haredi draft, in Jerusalem, January 28, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

“The intensity of the flaw… will diminish as long as the committee under its new chairperson will act to provide a proper response to the various issues that have come and will come up,” including issues brought up by the IDF and by the committee’s own legal adviser, wrote Afik.

The perennial hot-button issue of Haredi military service has taken on renewed urgency following the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, as reservists have been called up for hundreds of days to fight in the ensuing Gaza war to make up for a shortage in enlisted troops.

Some 80,000 ultra-Orthodox men aged between 18 and 24 are currently believed to be eligible for IDF service, but have not enlisted. The IDF has said it urgently needs 12,000 recruits, due to the strain on standing and reservist forces in the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza and other military challenges. Currently, only around 1,800 Haredim enlist annually. About 2,700 enlisted over the past year, far short of the IDF’s goal of 4,800.

In June last year, the High Court ruled that there was no legal basis for the Haredi community’s long-standing exemption from military service, leading Baharav-Miara, the attorney general, to instruct that the IDF immediately start recruiting draft-age Haredi youth.

As the coalition scrambled to enshrine the blanket Haredi exemption from military service, disagreements arose between Edelstein and Haredi parties Shas and United Torah Judaism over the extent of penalties against Haredi draft evaders. Last month, both parties quit the government over its failure to pass the legislation and what they described as persecution of Torah scholars. UTJ also joined the opposition, leaving Netanyahu’s coalition with just 61 of the Knesset’s 120 seats.

Sam Sokol and Ariela Karmel contributed to this report.