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Monday, November 3, 2025
Liberman says he will introduce bill to strip voting rights from draft dodgers
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleAriela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.
Yisrael Beytenu party chief MK Avigdor Liberman announces that his party will introduce legislation to condition voting rights on military service, following a 200,000-strong ultra-Orthodox protest against military conscription last week.
He says that his bill will apply to all Israeli citizens regardless of religion: “Our law concerns enlistment for everyone — Muslims, Jews, Circassians and Christians. As far as I am concerned, any draft evader is a draft evader.”
Liberman stresses that draft evaders will face sanctions and lose their voting rights, describing the measure as essential for ensuring “real enlistment,” especially as law enforcement authorities are “failing to enforce existing law.”
He expresses hope that other parties will join him in voting for the measure, including Yesh Atid, whose leader, Yair Lapid, called for a similar measure last week.
“Anyone who does not vote in favor simply does not want enlistment,” Liberman says.
Such legislation is seen as highly unlikely to become law, and would also almost certainly be challenged in the High Court.
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