Opposition fumes as ultra-Orthodox lawmakers shown watered-down Haredi conscription bill

Likud lawmaker Yuli Edelstein presents representatives of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party with a copy of a compromise bill regulating the conscription of yeshiva students, paving the way for it to be debated in his Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

According to the Ynet website, the Haredi parties insisted on seeing a copy ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s diplomatic trip to the United States, with Edelstein ultimately meeting with former Shas MK Ariel Attias.

The version shown to Attias is a draft, while the final version of the softened draft legislation will be presented to lawmakers within 48 hours, reports the Israel Hayom daily. It adds that the law’s presentation was delayed because of Edelstein’s insistence on introducing multiple changes to the text.

“If Yuli Edelstein, under pressure from Netanyahu, presents the law to the ultra-Orthodox before presenting it to soldiers and reservists, that sums up the whole story of the ‘evasion law,'” Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says in a post on X.

“The time has come to put an end to the rule of the evaders. Conscription for all – this is the call of the hour,” posts Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman.

“Whoever needed proof that this law won’t draft a single ultra-Orthodox person got it the moment Edelstein went to approve the draft law with the Shas representative,” adds The Democrats chief Yair Golan.

Around the same time as Edelstein’s meeting with the Haredim, the IDF announced that it will begin issuing 54,000 draft notices this week to members of the ultra-Orthodox community whose exemption from military service as yeshiva students is no longer valid, following the expiration of the previous legal arrangement.

In addition, the IDF plans to step up enforcement against draft evaders and deserters across all demographics.