The new ultra-Orthodox draft bill must reflect the post-October 7 reality, Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara told Defense Minister Israel Katz on Thursday.
Baharav-Miara wrote to Katz that the new proposal he is leading has not been presented to her, and as such has not received the A-G’s legal opinion.
“The reality has changed drastically, and just as the government is promoting legislative proposals that significantly increase the burden on those serving (extending compulsory service, increasing the burden of reserve duty, and raising the age for reserve duty exemption), the current proposal must also reflect the reality in every relevant aspect,” she said.
Failure to take the new reality into account would be a significant flaw in the bill, and join a previous flaw whereby the government chose to renew legislation from 2022 as opposed to beginning the process from scratch, the A-G wrote, indicating that the law may not pass legal challenges against it.
The A-G recently wrote in a court filing that the decision to renew the legislation was illegal, since the initial legislation, which was proposed in the Lapid-Bennett government and passed its first reading, occurred before the October 7 massacre and ensuing war, and was therefore irrelevant. The coalition intends to replace that law with Katz’s new proposal, and then continue preparation for second and third readings in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, as opposed to starting the legislation from scratch.
The letter came after Katz announced earlier this week that his bill proposal would aim to draft up to 50% of each graduating haredi class within seven years, and would also include institutional sanctions against yeshivot that do not meet draft quotas and personal sanctions against individuals.
However, Baharav-Miara wrote that in a meeting with security officials on Wednesday, the officials said the IDF could draft up to 4,800 haredi men between July 2024 – and July 2025; 20% more in the following year (ending July 2026); and after that, the army will not have an intake limit and can recruit as many haredim as necessary.
Baharav-Miara added that security officials had demanded significant personal sanctions on people who avoided the draft, since so far they have been unable to meet their recruitment goals, with just “dozens” of haredi men enlisting between July-October 2024.
Response to A-G's decision
Government Secretary Adv. Yossi Fuchs responded to Baharav-Miara on X/Twitter, “Approximately half a year ago, the Knesset approved the application of the measure” to renew legislation of a bill from a previous Knesset, “and since then the FADC held 14 discussions. The discussions will resume soon after the defense minister formulated the necessary changes.”
Fuchs continued, “The Knesset and FADC have excellent legal advisers, and it is them who will decide whether the law meets the requisite criteria, and not the attorney general’s office.”
The letter came a day after former defense minister Yoav Gallant said in a resignation speech that he had been removed from his position because he was unwilling to agree to a law that did not meet the IDF’s requirements and thus endangered national security.
Katz responded on Thursday that Gallant had used the issue of the haredi draft in a “political and cynical” way, and argued that the new bill will bring “tens of thousands” of haredim into “significant” IDF service.