Bismuth said to meet Haredi MKs, legal adviser, over draft bill; Lapid: ‘Completely insane’

By Sam Sokol 28 January 2026, 6:05 pm

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Sam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. 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"

Likud MK Boaz Bismuth chairs a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, December 2, 2025. (Sam Sokol/Times of Israel)

After speaking with Rabbi Dov Lando, the spiritual leader of the Haredi Degel HaTorah faction, Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Boaz Bismuth is reportedly meeting with senior Haredi politicians to discuss his Haredi draft exemption bill ahead of this evening’s first reading of the 2026 state budget.

The reported meeting sparks outcry from Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, who accuses Bismuth and coalition whip Ofir Katz, who’s also in attendance, of skirting the defense committee.

According to Radio Kol Barama, Bismuth and Katz are meeting with Degel Hatorah and Shas MKs Uri Maklev, Yaakov Asher and Yinon Azoulay. Also reportedly in attendance are former Shas MK Ariel Attias, who represented the Haredi parties in negotiations over Bismuth’s bill, and committee legal adviser Miri Frenkel Shor, whose requested changes to the bill have sparked ultra-Orthodox pushback.

Degel HaTorah and Shas are expected to officially express their positions on tonight’s budget vote following the meeting, Kol Barama reports. They have previously indicated that they will vote yes.

In response, Lapid declares that “what is happening right now behind closed doors of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee is simply completely insane.”

“Ultra-Orthodox political operatives have set up an alternative Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee for themselves, and together with Bismuth and Ofir Katz they are sitting there and exerting heavy pressure on the committee’s legal adviser, trying to push her to approve changes that the ultra-Orthodox parties want,” he declares.

“This is horse-trading over the security of the State of Israel, encouraged by Netanyahu.”

While the Haredi parties have not set it as a condition for their support of the budget, the Ynet news site reports that Degel HaTorah and Shas, alongside various ministerial professionals from across the government, are also formulating a five-year plan to fund the development and growth of Haredi local authorities to the tune of up to NIS 1 billion.