PM meets Edelstein over remarks on Haredi draft bill seen as imperiling coalition
Veteran Likud MK said to assure Netanyahu he’s not trying to start rebellion, but rather to show how hard it is to draft a law that’s acceptable to both Likud and Haredi parties
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein on Wednesday evening, following comments made by the veteran Likud lawmaker that reportedly caused the coalition’s ultra-Orthodox member parties to reconsider whether they want to be part of the government.
According to several outlets, Edelstein was spotted entering the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem less than a day after a harsh phone call between the two, in which Netanyahu warned him that his promise to advance an ultra-Orthodox enlistment bill only “with broad agreement” put the government at risk of falling.
Following Edelstein’s statement, multiple Hebrew media outlets reported that the Shas and United Torah Judaism parties were weighing resigning their cabinet posts, while remaining in the coalition.
Resigning as ministers is a step toward pulling out completely. It threatens the stability of the government by reducing its appearance of strength, revealing internal dissension that could spiral, and opening the door to voting against the government.
Edelstein appeared to assert his independence from the coalition on the issue of Israel Defense Forces enlistment, delaying a vote on a Defense Ministry-backed “draft Security Service Law” due to what he said was a failure to reach a “broad consensus” on the matter.
If passed, the law would extend a temporary measure raising the exemption age for reserve military service from 40 to 41 for soldiers and from 45 to 46 for officers for several additional months due to a manpower shortage amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
Those close to Netanyahu have been harshly critical of Edelstein, according to the Ynet news outlet, which quoted a senior Likud official angrily alleging that “there is complete coordination between Edelstein and [Defense Minister Yoav] Gallant on the dissolution of the government and bringing elections forward to November.”
But Channel 12 news reported that Edelstein assured the prime minister in their Wednesday meeting that he was not trying to foment a rebellion or a challenge to power, but rather to point out the political reality — that it is extremely difficult to draft a law that would please both Likud MKs and ultra-Orthodox lawmakers.
Speaking during Wednesday’s meeting of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Edelstein had said, “Either we’ll agree on something or not, but we’re all together.”
It has become clear in recent days with the failure of the so-called Rabbis Bill that the ultra-Orthodox no longer trust Netanyahu’s government to advance their interests in the Knesset, and Edelstein’s actions on Wednesday, alongside his potential willingness to block the ultra-Orthodox enlistment bill on similar grounds, may serve to confirm this perception.
The chances of the government being able to pass legislation on Haredi enlistment in the next month are seen as very low.
Following Tuesday morning’s landmark High Court ruling — which found that there is no legal basis for excluding Haredi men from the military draft — the legislation has taken on even more importance for the Haredim, who view it as their last chance to head off the widespread conscription of previously exempt yeshiva students.
Ultra-Orthodox men of military age have been able to avoid being conscripted to the IDF for decades by enrolling in yeshivas for Torah study and obtaining repeated one-year service deferrals until they reach the age of military exemption.
