Netanyahu meeting Edelstein in last-ditch effort to reach compromise on Haredi draft law

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu summons Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein to a meeting to discuss the ultra-Orthodox enlistment issue.

According to Hebrew media reports, the premier is reaching out to the Likud lawmaker in a final bid to reach a compromise that can head off tomorrow’s scheduled preliminary vote on a bill to dissolve the Knesset, which would bring down his government and force new elections.

The heart of the current crisis lies with the ultra-Orthodox leadership’s frustration with Edelstein, who has been blocking in his committee the passage of a government-backed bill enshrining the broad exclusion from IDF service for Haredim, as demanded by the Shas and United Torah Judaism parties, and has been pledging that any law coming out of his committee would levy strong financial sanctions on draft dodgers.

According to reports, a revised draft of the bill by Edelstein’s committee includes a raft of harsh penalties, including the loss of property tax and public transportation discounts, the removal of tax benefits for working women married to dodgers, exclusion from the housing lottery, and the cancellation of daycare and academic subsidies.

The bill would also prevent draft dodgers up to the age of 29 from receiving driver’s licenses or traveling abroad and would open them up to the threat of arrest.

Edelstein’s unwillingness to back down from this position in last-ditch talks with the Haredim brokered by Netanyahu was what led the leaders of Degel HaTorah — one of the two factions that make up UTJ — to support dissolving the Knesset. While he has shown somewhat more flexibility in subsequent talks over recent days, it was not enough to prevent Shas from following UTJ’s lead.

According to Channel 12, in the last round of talks, Edelstein expressed willingness to back off the cancellation of property tax discounts and allow the Haredim to receive tax breaks on the purchase of their first apartments.

Nevertheless, significant gaps remain, with the veteran lawmaker continuing to insist that the sanctions be applied immediately, while the Haredim are pushing for any penalties to be delayed by up to a year, in an apparent effort to weaken the pressure on draft evaders.

Speaking anonymously with Channel 13, a senior Haredi political figure states that “without a final wording that is agreed upon by the parties, the decision to support the dissolution of the Knesset tomorrow stands.”