Government delays first vote on budget amid ongoing dispute over ultra-Orthodox draft law

By Sam Sokol 26 January 2026, 12:00 pm

2 Edit

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"

Ultra-Orthodox Jews protest against Haredi conscription outside the IDF Recruitment Center at Tel Hashomer, January 4, 2026. (Erik Marmor/Flash90)

Today’s planned first reading of the 2026 state budget bill will be postponed until Wednesday, a spokeswoman for coalition whip Ofir Katz announces.

Speaking with The Times of Israel, a Shas party source says he understands the delay is related to disagreements over the government’s bill exempting yeshiva students from military conscription.

A senior United Torah Judaism source confirms that the two issues are linked. Asked what the specific issue is, the source replies that “there are difficult problems with the law” but does not elaborate.

A second source tells The Times of Israel that the delay is the result of a demand by the party’s Degel HaTorah faction. While a spokesman for Degel HaTorah chairman Moshe Gafni does not elaborate, Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee member Moshe Tur-Paz (Yesh Atid) says that the Haredim are “not satisfied with the dialogue with the [committee] legal advisor and demand to see her approve the law.”

“Otherwise they will not vote in favor and go to the polls,” he adds.

According to the Maariv daily, legal adviser Miri Frenkel Shor, who has expressed significant criticism of the bill, has called for the addition of several amendments to the legislation which are opposed by the Haredim. Late night discussions of the issues failed to bring about an agreement, leading to the delay on the budget vote.

Despite declaring that they would not support the 2026 state budget until the coalition passes its controversial bill, the ultra-Orthodox Shas party and the Degel HaTorah faction of UTJ have both previously indicated that they plan to vote in favor of the budget in its first reading.

According to Channel 12, following the first reading of the budget bill, the two Haredi parties will withhold their support for further votes on the budget until the exemption bill’s legislative process is completed.

“The reason the budget is not up for a vote today is that the Haredim have realized that the evasion law will not pass. We will not let it pass,” Opposition Leader Yair Lapid declares in a video statement.

Knesset Legal Adviser Sagit Afik informed lawmakers last Sunday that a first reading of the budget must be held by this week because at least two months must pass between the first and second readings of the budget, the latter of which must be held by the end of March.

Under Israeli law, if the government fails to pass the budget by the end of March, the Knesset will automatically dissolve, triggering early elections three months later. Elections are currently slated to be held by late October.