From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
UTJ demands PM advance Daycare Bill despite lacking majority, threatening coalition
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Coalition partner United Torah Judaism is demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu advance the so-called Daycare Bill for a preliminary vote in the Knesset plenum tomorrow despite the fact that it does not enjoy majority support.
According to Hebrew-language press reports, the ultra-Orthodox party informed Netanyahu that it would not support any other coalition legislation before the bill is brought to a vote, with UTJ MK Yisrael Eichler demanding that it be brought to the plenum as early as tomorrow.
The legislation, which was submitted last week, aims to guarantee that the children of ultra-Orthodox men who are obligated to perform military service, but have not done so, will continue to be eligible for state-paid daycare subsidies. It aims to circumvent a High Court of Justice ruling that such financial support is illegal in cases where the father should be serving in the Israel Defense Forces but is not.
Netanyahu’s coalition has lost the votes required to pass the legislation, with nine lawmakers indicating that they will oppose it. The coalition holds an eight-seat majority, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is also widely expected to vote against the law.
Economy Minister Nir Barkat is also considering skipping the vote, Ynet reports.
Speaking during a visit to the elite Egoz commando unit his afternoon, Gallant stated that the IDF needs a “large-scale” draft of ultra-Orthodox youths to help meet urgent manpower needs. His comments came only a day after the IDF announced that it will soon send out another 7,000 draft orders to members of the ultra-Orthodox community.
Among those who oppose the Daycare Law is Gideon Sa’ar, the chairman of the coalition’s New Hope party, who has said that his party’s four MKs will vote against the measure.
According to Channel 12, Netanyahu’s Likud is now working to finalize a coalition deal with the New Hope party, which rejoined the government in September, in an attempt to bring it around on the issue. This could potentially mean an upgrade from Sa’ar’s current position as a minister-without-portfolio, the network reports.
