Gallant’s resignation makes it easier for Netanyahu to pass Haredi draft law, opposition MK laments

MK Matan Kahana, of Benny Gantz’s centrist opposition party National Unity, criticizes former defense minister Yoav Gallant’s resignation from the Knesset, pointing out that this will make it easier for the coalition to pass a law enshrining exemptions from military draft for ultra-Orthoox men.

Gallant cited his objection to that law in his press conference last night explaining his resignation, saying he is unwilling to lend a hand to such a law during a multifront war when the IDF needs all the manpower it can get. He resigned from the Knesset and vowed to remain in the ruling Likud party, indicating a potential future primaries run.

But Kahana, speaking to Army Radio, notes that his resignation means he will be replaced with a new lawmaker — likely Abed Afif, a representative of the Druze minority — who will be aligned with the coalition, essentially boosting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s standing amid multiple recent coalition crises.

“This is an act that will make it easier for Netanyahu to advance the exemptions law,” Kahana laments. “There is no doubt he could have spearheaded the struggle against the law [as an MK] — nobody knows better than him how much the IDF needs fighters right now.”