From the Liveblog of
Monday, August 4, 2025
Edelstein: I alone prevented bad Haredi draft law, replacing me won’t fix problems
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"
Lawmaker Yuli Edelstein says he “single-handedly prevented” the passage of a “draft evasion law” exempting the ultra-Orthodox community from military service, as the Knesset House Committee readies to vote on replacing him as chair of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee with fellow Likud MK Boaz Bismuth.
“I fought for a real conscription law, but the Haredi leadership simply does not want conscription. Changing the identity of the chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee will not change anything. This dismissal will lead to chaos in the IDF,” he declares, citing recent statements by senior Haredi leaders that it is forbidden to serve in the military in any capacity whatsoever.
“Today’s vote is the final nail in the coffin of the conscription law,” Edelstein declares. He adds that he will “will continue to fight for a real conscription law.”
After the House Committee vote, the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee will hold its own ballot to complete the process of replacing Edelstein with Bismuth — a move that Knesset legal adviser Sagit Afik has said “could critically affect the integrity of the legislative process” and “disrupt the shaping of the bill.”
The Times of Israel Community.