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ISRAEL AT WAR - DAY 650

Moshe Roth

Likud MK Yuli Edelstein chairs a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, July 1, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
July 3, 2025, 5:27 pm
Edelstein expected to present revised Haredi enlistment bill in coming days
Shas, UTJ boycotting private coalition member bills to pressure government, Haredi lawmakers said to consult with their rabbis to discuss ‘intensifying measures’
By Sam Sokol
United Torah Judaism chairman Yitzchak Goldknopf attends a faction meeting in the Knesset, May 19 , 2025. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)
June 12, 2025, 5:21 pm
UTJ’s Goldknopf resigns from cabinet after Knesset fails to pass dissolution bill
Chairman of ultra-Orthodox party says enlistment compromise fails to live up to PM’s promises, says he can ‘no longer take part as a member of this government’
By Sam Sokol
Knesset member Aryeh Deri looks at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a vote on the state budget at the Knesset in Jerusalem, March 13, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)
June 11, 2025, 5:51 pm
Coalition scrambles for deal with Haredim ahead of preliminary vote to dissolve Knesset
Shas said to be pressuring Degel Hatorah to give Netanyahu more time; no agreement has been reached yet, says Knesset legal adviser Sagit Afik
By Sam Sokol
Ultra-Orthodox Jews study at the Ponevezh yeshiva in Bnei Brak, February 27, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
April 8, 2025, 4:17 pm
Does the 2025 state budget encourage Haredim to evade IDF service?
Critics charge that allocating over NIS 1 billion in yeshiva funding incentivizes draft evasion, while Haredim complain they are being ‘slandered’ and ‘delegitimized’
By Sam Sokol
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf, right, arriving for a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem on September 27, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/ Flash90)
March 7, 2025, 8:39 am
Hasidic MKs tell Netanyahu they’ll oppose budget if draft exemption law not passed
Report says despite PM’s promises, Haredi draft exemption bill likely to be postponed; out of 10,000 Haredim who received draft orders since July, only 177 have enlisted, IDF says
By Sam Sokol
Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein attends a debate on the government-backed Haredi draft legislation, June 24, 2024. (Noam Moshkovitz/Knesset spokesperson)
November 19, 2024, 4:51 pm
With Gallant gone, Edelstein is the ‘final obstacle’ to Haredi draft exemption law
‘It doesn’t seem feasible at the moment for a law to pass,’ one Haredi coalition member concedes, but says government unlikely to fall over the issue
By Sam Sokol
United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni, center, speaks alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Shas party leader Aryeh Deri, at the Knesset in Jerusalem on January 23, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
June 19, 2024, 5:30 pm
Failure of ‘Rabbis Bill’ shatters Haredi trust in PM, putting coalition on thin ice
After Likud MKs rebel over contentious measure, ultra-Orthodox lawmakers accuse Netanyahu of being unable to keep party in line, doubt he can deliver on IDF draft bill
By Sam Sokol
Lawmakers take part in a debate on ultra-Orthodox enlistment in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on June 18, 2024. (Noam Moskowitz/Knesset spokesman)
June 18, 2024, 9:07 pm
MKs hope for compromise as contentious Haredi draft bill goes to committee
Lawmakers debate legislation lowering age of exemption from service for yeshiva students; bill could ‘provide a real answer to the needs of the IDF,’ says Likud’s Edelstein
By Sam Sokol
MK Rabbi Moshe Roth attends a Knesset House Committee meeting, January 30, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
April 2, 2024, 4:45 pm
UTJ’s Roth: ‘No actual benefit’ to Haredim in toppling government over yeshiva funds
MK says ultra-Orthodox parties hope Netanyahu can find ‘creative’ solution to Haredi enlistment in IDF before the High Court of Justice gives its final ruling on the matter
By Sam Sokol
Ultra-Orthodox Jews outside an army recruitment office in Jerusalem, March 4, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
March 14, 2024, 11:09 pm
Gantz boycotts meeting on Haredi draft with PM after cabinet ignores his proposal
Netanyahu expected to push for additional delay in drafting yeshiva students as ultra-Orthodox parties hammer out their own compromise offer
By Sam Sokol
File - Ultra-Orthodox students seen at the Ponovitz Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, February 27, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
March 10, 2024, 6:41 am
Citing IDF’s manpower ‘surplus,’ Haredim reject post-October 7 draft equality push
Despite defense minister and IDF chief’s calls for more soldiers, UTJ lawmakers threaten to bolt coalition if even ‘one real yeshiva student has to close his Talmud’
By Sam Sokol
Ultra-Orthodox men study at the Kamenitz Yeshiva, in Jerusalem, on August 22, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
February 7, 2024, 8:36 am
Inside the government-funded group arranging IDF exemptions for yeshiva students
Israel’s wartime budget includes millions of shekels for the Vaad HaYeshivot, despite a manpower shortage forcing the army to extend reservists’ mandatory service period
By Sam Sokol
Lawmakers vote to expel MK Ofer Cassif from the Knesset during a meeting of the Knesset House Committee on January 30, 2024. (Noam Moskowitz/Knesset Spokesperson)
January 30, 2024, 7:32 pm
Panel votes 14-2 to expel MK Cassif for Gaza genocide claims; now Knesset will vote
House Committee vote a ‘black day for Knesset,’ says Hadash-Ta’al chairman Tibi; ‘This is not freedom of speech, it is the freedom to betray your country,’ argues Likud’s Ofir Katz
By Sam Sokol
Illustrative: An ultra-Orthodox man walks outside the army recruitment office in Jerusalem, July 2, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/ Flash90)
July 25, 2023, 2:39 pm
UTJ presents bill to shield Haredi draft exemptions, prompting Likud disavowal
Legislation seeks to equate Torah study and military service, leading opposition to rage against proposal and Netanyahu’s party to deny it will be advancing to a vote
By Stuart Winer, Canaan Lidor and Jeremy Sharon
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