Netanyahu taped saying he replaced Gallant, Halevi so Haredi draft exemption bill can pass

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was caught on tape telling a senior rabbi that he ousted former defense minister Yoav Gallant and former IDF chief of staff Lt. Gen Herzi  Halevi to enable his coalition to advance a law exempting ultra-Orthodox men from military service.

The leaked recordings, which captured parts of a conversation between Netanyahu and Haredi Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch in March, aired Wednesday on Israel’s Channel 13.

“We had enormous obstacles that we removed. You know, when the defense minister is against you and the [IDF] chief of staff is against you, you cannot move. Now we can move,” he told the rabbi in English, referring to Gallant and Halevi.

The premier warned Hirsch that he would not be able to push ahead quickly with the bill so as not to “impair the process.”

“To put a deadline that is too quick will impair the process,” he said. “They [the opposition] have ways of slowing this down and I’m taking the time…. that doesn’t allow them to do that.”

“You can’t do it at breakneck speed because we’re giving our opponents, you know, a gift on a silver plate. Why give it to them? It needs, I think, about eight weeks [additional time],” the premier elaborated, adding that he did not want to be “caught in a deadline” he can’t keep.

Netanyahu fired Gallant in November, claiming a lack of trust. Halevi announced his resignation in January and stepped down in March, taking responsibility for failures surrounding the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion and massacre in southern Israel.

The audio leaked as ultra-Orthodox parties grew increasingly fed up with the government’s failure to pass the exemption law for yeshiva students and began to weigh dissolving the Knesset, which would collapse Netanyahu’s ruling coalition.

On Wednesday morning, Degel Hatorah chair MK Moshe Gafni, who leads one of the two factions comprising the United Torah Judaism party, received instructions from Hirsch to introduce a bill to dissolve the Knesset.

Netanyahu also discussed with Hirsch the army’s efforts to integrate ultra-Orthodox into the army while keeping their traditional way of life intact.

“The army is doing exactly what we asked them to do. Now they’re creating [paths], they’re creating the ability to receive Haredim and to [integrate Haredi life] in the army. In fact, it’s because we changed the chief of staff, because we changed the defense minister, who are blocking us basically all these, this long period, [that] we now are able to move more confidently and more professionally,” he said.

“We can save ‘olam haTorah’ [the world of Torah]; we can finish this matter once and for all… I think this is definitely possible with your help,” he continued.

Netanyahu responded to the Channel 13 report in a statement from his office, claiming that Gallant and Halevi attempted to block Haredi IDF enlistment.

His statement only addressed a section of the recording, in which he discussed paths to integrate Haredim into the IDF.

“As is clearly heard in the recordings — without the distorted interpretation of Channel 13’s so-called ‘analysts’ — the Prime Minister notes that the previous Chief of Staff and Defense Minister were the ones who prevented the establishment of special units for Haredi military service,” his office said.

“In contrast, the current Defense Minister and Chief of Staff are advancing the issue swiftly and professionally — and we are proud of that,” concluded the statement.

Contrary to Netanyahu’s claims, however, Halevi and Gallant did, in fact, advance and approve the establishment of dedicated units for ultra-Orthodox soldiers, including the IDF’s first-ever Haredi brigade, known as the Hasmonean Brigade.

Halevi also suggested establishing a yeshiva in the Jordan Valley to benefit Haredi soldiers who could serve there as part of a new eastern division.

Gallant seemed to respond to the report in a post on X calling for the enlistment of “every young person of draft age into the IDF.”

“The soldiers on the battlefield are crying out for reinforcements. Political battles do nothing to help them. I’m proud to have stood by the principle that everyone must take part in the mission of defending our country. To sustain Israel, we need a strong and determined army. The need to enlist every young person of draft age into the IDF is essential to ensuring Israel’s security — everyone must serve: secular, religious, and ultra-Orthodox alike,” Gallant wrote.

Last June, the High Court of Justice ruled that longstanding service exemptions for yeshiva students had no legal basis, leading the IDF to begin efforts to conscript tens of thousands of previously exempt men into the military, although few have joined. Since then, the ultra-Orthodox parties have been pushing hard for legislation reinstating their special status and preventing the mass conscription of Haredim.

Currently, approximately 80,000 Haredi men between the ages of 18 and 24 are eligible for military service and have not enlisted. The issue is particularly volatile in Israel amid the ongoing war, with the burden of service falling on the secular and national religious communities.

The army has also stated that it is facing a manpower shortage and currently needs some 12,000 new soldiers — 7,000 of whom would be combat troops.