From After criticism, Smotrich denies agreeing to support contentious Haredi draft law
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"
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party denies media reports that it agreed to support the coalition’s controversial ultra-Orthodox military draft exemption law, declaring that it will “vote only for a law that will bring about real and rapid enlistment of Haredim into the IDF, in order to meet Israel’s security needs and ease the burden on the fighters and their families.”
The reported decision had been criticized by officials in the religious Zionist community.
“Last night, a joint meeting was held between the faction members and a broad forum of yeshiva heads, whose tens of thousands of students are leading the enlistment in this war, both in regular army service and in the reserves,” the party says in a statement, calling the meeting part of the MKs’ and rabbis’ in-depth study of “ways to correct the historical injustice and bring about the enlistment of Haredim into the IDF.”
“Contrary to various reports, no practical decisions have yet been made, and the faction is consolidating its demands and conditions for supporting the law,” the party says, adding that it “will make its decisions solely based on the merits of the issue, independent of campaigns and political interests from any side.”
According to Hebrew media, following consultations with his party’s rabbis, Religious Zionism chairman and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich decided last night to support the bill despite harsh opposition by several party MKs.
Among other issues, the rabbis reportedly stressed the need to keep the government from falling and to maintain political ties with Likud and the Haredi parties.
The proposed legislation stipulates that full-time yeshiva students who do not engage in any other vocation can be granted yearly deferments from enlistment, but it removed various provisions from a previous version that were intended to ensure that those registered for yeshiva study are actually doing so.
Supporting the bill is likely to be a highly unpopular move within the national-religious community that comprises Smotrich’s voter base, a sector that highly values military service and that Smotrich has previously said paid a disproportionate price during the war.
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