Netanyahu concludes meeting with Edelstein, says gaps on Haredi draft law can be bridged; talks to continue

The Prime Minister’s Office announces that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has just finished a meeting with Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein, at which “it was clarified that there is a way to bridge the gaps on the issue of conscription.”

Tomorrow afternoon, Netanyahu and Edelstein are slated to meet with former Shas MK Ariel Atias and Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs “to advance the solution,” the PMO states.

Netanyahu summoned Edelstein for the meeting after last-ditch talks last night between the Likud lawmaker and Haredi representatives failed to settle their differences regarding an ultra-Orthodox conscription bill currently making its way through the Knesset.

Edelstein has pledged that any law coming out of his committee would levy sanctions on draft dodgers, a position he apparently maintained last night. Following Edelstein’s refusal to back down on sanctions during the meeting, the spiritual leaders of Degel HaTorah, one of the two factions that make up the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, instructed their MKs to introduce a bill to dissolve the Knesset.

Shas leader Aryeh Deri has since stated in an internal party meeting that Shas also supports dissolving the Knesset, according to Hebrew media reports.

In a separate statement, Edelstein’s spokesman says that the meeting was conducted “in a good spirit” and that “discussions will continue tomorrow.”

An Edelstein spokesman used similar language to describe last night’s failed meeting, writing at the time that it was also conducted in “a good spirit and further discussions on the subject were scheduled.”