AG opposes government’s revived Haredi draft bill, saying it’s based on outdated data

The Attorney General’s Office tells Justice Minister Yariv Levin that there is a legal impediment to advancing a bill from the last Knesset backed by the previous government which would slowly increase the rate of ultra-Orthodox enlistment to the IDF.

Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon points out to Levin that the bill was drawn up in 2021 on the basis of data that is no longer up to date, and notes that the IDF and the security establishment were not consulted by the government about its proposal to recycle the old bill.

“The reality that the state and the IDF are currently going through is totally different from when the bill was being formulated… including fierce, active combat on numerous fronts at the same time,” the Attorney General’s Office says in a statement to the press.

“An [ultra-Orthodox] enlistment arrangement cannot be accepted if it ignores security requirements, the security establishment, its economic consequences, and its impact on the public,” the statement adds.

Limon adds at the end of his letter that the Attorney General’s Office therefore opposes the bill. This means it cannot be advanced as government legislation, although it could be advanced as a private member’s bill.