Knesset to convene for emergency debate on Haredi conscription

By Sam Sokol 4 August 2025, 3:03 pm

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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"

Despite the current recess, the Knesset is slated to convene this afternoon to hold an emergency discussion on the coalition’s failure to conscript Israel’s ultra-Orthodox population.

The Knesset began a recess of nearly three months on July 27. It will reconvene on October 19 for the winter session.

The special session was called after the opposition last week collected the 25 signatures necessary to hold a discussion on “advancing the evasion law during wartime, bringing back the hostages, and advancing an immediate deal to end the fighting in Gaza.”

Both the Ashkenazi United Torah Judaism and Sephardic Shas parties have been pushing hard for the passage of legislation enabling most ultra-Orthodox males to continue to avoid military conscription or other national service, in the wake of last year’s High Court decision that such exemptions are illegal on equality grounds.

Last month, UTJ quit the coalition after being presented with a copy of a proposed enlistment bill prepared by Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman, Yuli Edelstein, which it argued had violated the terms of a supposed compromise reached the previous month. They were quickly followed by Shas, which, while quitting the government, has remained part of the coalition.

Today’s session is slated to take place following votes in the Knesset House Committee and Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee to replace Edelstein with fellow Likud MK Boaz Bismuth.

Some 80,000 ultra-Orthodox men aged between 18 and 24 are currently believed to be eligible for military service, but have not enlisted. The Israel Defense Forces has said it urgently needs 12,000 recruits, due to the strain on standing and reserve forces amid the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza and other military challenges. Some 2,700 Haredim enlisted over the past year, far short of the IDF’s goal of 4,800.