Haredi leadership said mulling support for opposition bills until new draft exemption law advanced

A senior ultra-Orthodox rabbi told Haredi lawmakers yesterday that he was considering telling them to support opposition legislation as part of a widening rift within the coalition over draft exemptions, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

The outlet says a final decision has not been made on the matter.

Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch, a member of the Council of Torah Sages of Degel HaTorah and a leader of the Lithuanian-Haredi community, reportedly told the lawmakers: “We did not stay in the government to save Netanyahu, but to save the people of Israel because of the war. Now we need to reconsider this.”

Yesterday, ultra-Orthodox lawmakers announced they will resume their boycott of private member bills submitted by coalition MKs until a new version of the draft exemption law is brought forward and passed.

The move increases pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is reportedly working to resolve the crisis and present an agreed-upon version of the law that would grant continued military service exemptions to yeshiva students.