Edelstein presents copy of proposed Haredi enlistment bill just ahead of vote to replace him

Less than an hour before the Knesset House Committee is slated to vote on replacing him with fellow Likud MK Boaz Bismuth, Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein sends members of his key defense panel a copy of his proposed ultra-Orthodox enlistment bill.

Edelstein has held the revised bill close to his chest, discussing it with both the public and members of the committee in general terms but not sharing its contents.

Last month, lawmakers belonging to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party voted overwhelmingly to replace Edelstein as chairman of the committee.

Edelstein was ousted over his refusal to advance a conscription bill based on a compromise reached with the Haredi parties in June, under which most ultra-Orthodox males would continue to avoid IDF or other national service. The Haredi United Torah Judaism party, which, unlike the members of Edelstein’s committee, had seen the bill, argued that it did did not “satisfy the demands” of the faction and its spiritual leaders.

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.”