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Sunday, February 23, 2025
Report: Haredi parties fume as PM says budget must pass before Haredi draft law
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Haredi parties in the coalition are reportedly fuming after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed them that the government must pass a budget before it can legislate the issue of ultra-Orthodox exemption from the IDF draft.
According to Hebrew media reports of leaks from a meeting of coalition leaders, Netanyahu said that the priority has to be passing the state budget before dealing with the highly contentious issue of Haredi enlistment.
United Torah Judaism leader and Construction and Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf reportedly fumed that there is “no reason to stay in the government” if a Haredi draft law is not passed before the budget.
Versions of such a bill have been stuck in committee with Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein vowing to only advance legislation that has broad consensus, in particular in light of the IDF’s manpower shortage amid the ongoing war.
The Times of Israel Community.