Knesset votes down opposition bills to penalize yeshiva students who evade draft

The Knesset has voted down a package of bills from opposition MKs that would financially penalize yeshiva students who avoid military service. The bills, led by Yesh Atid’s MK Meirav Cohen, seek to condition state benefits on compliance with national service laws, amid ongoing pressures from ultra-Orthodox parties on the government to pass a law exempting yeshiva students and Haredim in general from the draft.

Cohen’s bill package includes measures to revoke national insurance discounts, as well as block access to state and municipal housing benefits and financial aid for those who evade the draft.

“Anyone who breaks the law and fails to show up at the recruitment office should not continue receiving fast-tracked state benefits,” Cohen says.

Speaking before the Knesset, she says, “The only way to get young ultra-Orthodox people to enlist is to change the economic system: Serve, and you’ll receive. Don’t serve, and you won’t. It’s that simple.”

Additionally, Yisrael Beytenu MK Oded Forer’s proposal to block monthly childcare payments to parents who fail to complete mandatory military service was voted down. According to his proposal, parents who fulfill their service obligations would receive a 50% increase in allowances, and exemptions would be made for age, disability, or bereaved families.

Some 80,000 ultra-Orthodox men aged 18 to 24 are eligible for military service but have not enlisted. The Israel Defense Forces says it urgently needs 12,000 recruits due to strain on standing and reserve forces caused by the war against Hamas in Gaza and other fronts.