Controversy in the Knesset over the Haredi conscription bill
Boaz Bismuth, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in the Knesset, defended the amended draft law regulating Haredi recruitment, stressing that it is a balanced law, good for the occupation army, religious school students, the people of Israel, and the state itself.
Bismuth explained – in a post on the (X) platform – that the goal of the law is not to support the government coalition, but rather “stabilize the state.” But the draft law faced sharp criticism from opposition parties, which described it as “submission to those who evade service.”
The “Israel Our Home” party said: “The true right does not support the evasion law,” in reference to its position rejecting the legislation.
The former chief of staff of the occupation army and member Knesset member Gadi Eisenkot described the project as a “national disgrace,” stressing that the legislation keeps the Haredim away from military service instead of contributing to strengthening the army “during a difficult time.”
Eisenkot explained that the government “distinguishes between blood and blood,” considering its support for the draft law as evidence of “its loss of connection with the people of Israel and its loss of legitimacy in the eyes of its voters,” and that it “supports a law that is inappropriate for the citizens of Israel and our fighters.”
Likud Knesset member Yuli Edelstein joined the critics, after he had previously been removed from the chairmanship of the Defense Committee due to his refusal to support a text enshrining the exemption of the Haredim from service. He said that the new draft law “does not meet the needs of the army in any way,” describing it as “another political sticker instead of a historical law,” stressing that the battle will continue “until the end for a real conscription law.”
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