From the Liveblog of
Monday, January 26, 2026
Lapid slams PM, Bismuth over ‘shameful farce’ of conscription law
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam 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"
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid challenges Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Boaz Bismuth to justify their continued support for their Haredi conscription bill after senior ultra-Orthodox rabbis were captured on tape boasting that the controversial legislation will not lead to an increase in enlistment and will only serve to put off any real change.
“Why are you continuing this shameful farce after the rabbis’ tapes revealed that it is a complete fraud?” he asks during a press conference ahead of his Yesh Atid party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset. “Who are you deceiving? You have been exposed. Everyone knows. The game is over.”
In the recordings, several prominent rabbinic leaders affiliated with the Knesset’s ultra-Orthodox parties could be heard openly stating that they have no plans to allow Haredi youth to enlist in the Israel Defense Forces.
“In the Israeli Knesset, there are not only 61 Knesset members who are against this law, there are 71, maybe even 81. They just need to grow a backbone, decide that they are not willing to deceive the fighters, and are not willing to deceive the bereaved families, and are not willing to deceive themselves,” Lapid declares.
“This law will not pass, because there is a limit. We will stop it and there will be a real conscription law here. Whoever does not enlist will not receive a single shekel from the state,” he adds. “We will turn off the tap for them and you will see how quickly they will enlist.”
In the recordings broadcast by Channel 12 news, Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch, one of the senior leaders of the stream of ultra-Orthodox Jewry known as “Lithuanian,” says the law is meant to buy time rather than fundamentally influence enlistment patterns.
“In the end, the law will fall after a few years, but we’ve gained years,” he could be heard saying.
Meanwhile, Degel HaTorah spiritual leader Rabbi Dov Lando could also be heard speaking, and even more bluntly, about the legislation, in response to a visitor to his home appearing to express concern over the bill.
“What they are saying is nonsense. It won’t happen. We will not go to the army,” Lando said. “No one will go to the army.”
The Times of Israel Community.