PM associate: Haredi draft bill will pass ‘with or without’ defense committee chair Edelstein

An associate of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is recorded telling ultra-Orthodox representatives that the government plans on passing a controversial bill dealing with Haredi enlistment “with or without” Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein

The remarks, made by Netanyahu adviser Nevo Katz, seem to suggest that the prime minister is considering removing the Likud lawmaker from his position.

Despite the prime minister’s assurances to his ultra-Orthodox allies, the legislation has long been stuck in committee, with Edelstein pledging that he will “only produce a real conscription law that will significantly increase the IDF’s conscription base.”

In the recording, which was published by the Behadrei Haredim news site, Katz can be heard accusing Edelstein of failing to cooperate with the government on the legislation and appears to dismiss public pressure to pass a bill that conscripts the Haredi community.

“There is great pressure on him from the national religious public. The national religious say what? The Haredim should enlist, yada, yada, yada,” he says — adding that the bill “will pass — with or without him.”

Asked to respond to the report, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office replies that they are “not offering comment on [the] draft law.”

In a post on X, Edelstein’s spokesman Maayan Samun states that “the only pressure we have is from the reservists and the families of the fighters and reserve servicemen.”

“The only conscription law that will be promoted in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee is a real, correct and effective law. One that recruits Haredim to the army and relieves the burden on those serving,” he wrote.

Edelstein has long stood as a barrier to the controversial legislation’s passage, personally signing a declaration of principles calling for mass mobilization of Haredim as well as the imposition of “personal and financial sanctions” against those who fail to obey draft orders.

He has also explicitly stated that he is under no obligation to agree with the position of the government on the issue of ultra-Orthodox enlistment, rejecting a plan proposed by Defense Minister Israel Katz to gradually increase the number of ultra-Orthodox recruits year-over-year until it hits 50 percent of the annual eligible Haredi draft cohort in 2032.

According to Hebrew media reports, Netanyahu met with Edelstein in January to push him to advance the law, and those close to the prime minister informed Edelstein that he could be replaced as committee chairman if he does not play ball.

A spokesman for Edelstein denied at the time that any threats had been issued.

The following month, Edelstein again rejected what he called “conspiracy theories” that say the coalition will transfer the discussion to another committee.