{"id":157412,"date":"2025-11-28T13:05:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T13:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/157412\/"},"modified":"2025-11-28T13:05:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T13:05:10","slug":"ousted-chair-of-knesset-defense-panel-government-pushing-exact-opposite-of-a-conscription-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/157412\/","title":{"rendered":"Ousted chair of Knesset defense panel: Government pushing ‘exact opposite’ of a conscription law"},"content":{"rendered":"

The government\u2019s bill regulating ultra-Orthodox conscription is the \u201cexact opposite\u201d of the legislation he proposed on the issue, Likud lawmaker Yuli Edelstein said earlier this week, days before the revised version of the bill was presented to lawmakers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Edelstein spoke with The Times of Israel on Tuesday in his parliamentary office. He predicted that the bill, which was drafted by fellow Likud MK Boaz Bismuth, would likely be struck down by the High Court of Justice even if it is passed.<\/p>\n

Edelstein was ousted<\/a> as chair of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in July after drafting a stricter Haredi conscription bill that angered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s ultra-Orthodox coalition partners.<\/p>\n

He was replaced with Bismuth, whose bill, presented Thursday, weakened proposed sanctions and continues to exempt yeshiva students from the draft. Edelstein had harsh words for his successor\u2019s legislation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bill is so terrible that it will be difficult for members of the coalition to really explain to themselves and to Likud voters how come they support it,\u201d Edelstein said in the interview, adding that \u201cwhat we are witnessing right now and what the coalition is trying to push through is the exact opposite\u201d of the conscription bill he tried to pass.<\/p>\n

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But he warned that Netanyahu\u2019s coalition is set to exert significant pressure on the few lawmakers from its own ranks<\/a> who are \u201cstrongly opposed\u201d to the controversial legislation.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one can tell what will happen when push comes to shove, how people will vote, because I know what pressure they will be under,\u201d Edelstein said. \u201cThere will be pressure, there will be promises, there will be threats, there will be career opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tUltra-Orthodox Jews protest outside the IDF recruitment center in Jerusalem on November 12, 2025 (Sam Sokol\/Times of Israel)<\/p>\n

Some 80,000 ultra-Orthodox men aged between 18 and 24 are currently believed to be eligible for military service, but have not enlisted. The Israel Defense Forces has said it urgently needs 12,000 recruits due to the strain on standing and reserve forces caused by the war against Hamas in Gaza and other military challenges.<\/p>\n

The issue has roiled Netanyahu\u2019s coalition like few others, as ultra-Orthodox leaders have fought to preserve the sweeping exemptions from IDF service the community has enjoyed for decades. After the High Court ruled last year that the blanket exemptions were illegal,\u00a0Haredi leadership pushed Edelstein hard to compose a law keeping its constituency out of the IDF.<\/p>\n

Despite pressure from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Edelstein held up the legislation in committee, arguing that he would \u201conly produce a real conscription law<\/a> that will significantly increase the IDF\u2019s conscription base.\u201d<\/p>\n

That led to his ouster after the ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism parties quit the government over Edelstein\u2019s own proposed enlistment bill<\/a>, which levied harsh sanctions on draft evaders. He was later removed from the committee<\/a> entirely.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tShas chairman Aryeh Deri (center) and Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef (second from left) at a press conference in Jerusalem, June 8, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

After taking over the committee, Bismuth largely threw out Edelstein\u2019s version of the bill and started over<\/a>, indicating that his revised legislation would continue to exempt full-time yeshiva students<\/a> from IDF service for the foreseeable future, and would gradually draft only half of the eligible members of the community not engaged in full-time Talmud study over the next five years.<\/p>\n

The legislation\u2019s progress was marked by repeated delays<\/a> caused by ultra-Orthodox intransigence and internal opposition<\/a> to the bill within the coalition.<\/p>\n

But with the UTJ\u2019s Degel HaTorah faction recently announcing<\/a> that it supports the bill, Bismuth on Thursday evening finally revealed his revised version of the legislation. He announced a series of upcoming committee discussions \u2014 marking a renewed push to get the law over the finish line and bring the Haredi parties back into the government.<\/p>\n

Edelstein was highly critical of Bismuth\u2019s proposal, calling it a \u201cpolitical band-aid\u201d that \u201cdoes not answer the IDF\u2019s needs\u201d in a statement on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a legislation that basically pretends to be about the draft,\u201d he told The Times of Israel days earlier. \u201cBut as you hear the Knesset members saying themselves, this is not draft legislation. This is the legislation for [preserving the] status of the Yeshiva boys,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tKnesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee legal adviser Miri Frenkel Shor (right) and chairman Boaz Bismuth (center) during a discussion on ultra-Orthodox conscription, September 3, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

Even if Bismuth\u2019s bill is passed, he said, it faces slim chances at the High Court. That\u2019s because, Edelstein said, it lacks support from the legal advisers for the Knesset or the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is absolutely clear [is] that without the support of the legal advisers of the Knesset, there is zero chance of it passing the Supreme Court,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tHaredi men study at the Kamenitz Yeshiva in Jerusalem on September 9, 2024 (Chaim Goldberg\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

Ahead of their exit from the government<\/a> this summer, both Shas and UTJ publicly sparred with Edelstein, accusing him of walking back<\/a> promises he had made as part of a last-minute compromise<\/a> reached in an effort to prevent the Haredi parties from toppling the government ahead of the war with Iran.<\/p>\n

However, Edelstein pushed back on this narrative, telling The Times of Israel that while he was willing to bend on certain issues because he had been briefed about the pending attack<\/a>, the ultra-Orthodox leaders misrepresented the extent of the agreement that had been reached.<\/p>\n

(Shas leader Aryeh Deri<\/a> and Degel HaTorah chief Moshe Gafni were also informed of the attack before it was carried out<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Edelstein said that during the eleventh-hour negotiations prior to the 12-day Iran war, the Haredi representatives \u201cjust wanted to squeeze more and more and more.\u201d Even though he knew that there was a limit to what he could compromise on, he said, the \u201cnumber one priority was not to undermine the attack\u201d by threatening the dissolution of the Knesset.<\/p>\n

After a long night of tense talks, an agreement was reached on \u201cmaybe five central issues\u201d but \u201cnever about the whole legislation,\u201d Edelstein said, dismissing claims that there was an agreed-upon version of the bill.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tA poster showing Shas leader Aryeh Deri saying \u2018We are working on a law to regulate the status of Torah students,\u2019 with the text underneath reading, \u2018Who are you fooling?\u2019 in an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Jerusalem on October 28, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg\/FLASH90)<\/p>\n

Once he presented his revised bill, \u201ceverything blew up,\u201d and \u201cI think that there was general understanding that removing me could buy some time\u201d to salvage the legislation.<\/p>\n

But when asked by The Times of Israel if he or any other critic of the bill was leading an organized push against it within the coalition, Edelstein replied in the negative.<\/p>\n

Edelstein said his own views were widely known, but that organizing resistance among fellow coalition MKs at this point would merely have been seen as posturing ahead of the party\u2019s upcoming primaries.<\/p>\n

He said the party should unite behind the principle of supporting conscription.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never heard that Likud doesn\u2019t stand for equal service or for the needs of the IDF or for security,\u201d he said. \u201cI think that we have to be very careful and not to mix it with political activities.\u201d<\/p>\n


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