The government announced in a statement on Thursday that a meeting was conducted between the IDF, the civil service, the Defense Ministry, the Finance Ministry, and the Justice Ministry to discuss the application of the Conscription Law, a new draft bill for the ultra-Orthodox.
The government said in a statement that "The discussions are progressing in the direction of bringing about an outline that balances the needs of security and the economy while integrating the ultra-Orthodox public into employment and paying attention to the value of studying the Torah."
The new Conscription Law has sparked a controversy within the government, with the haredi parties threatening to dissolve the coalition if the new bill is not passed immediately following the Knesset’s summer break, scheduled to end after the Jewish High Holidays in October.
At the same time, haredi news outlet Kikar Hashabat reported on Tuesday that United Torah Judaism, one of the major haredi factions in the Knesset, demanded that the government’s other contentious legislation, judicial reform, be frozen indefinitely and be advanced only if there is broad agreement with the opposition. Their reasoning is that the bill has divided the country so much, and has also caused immediate outrage at the ultra-Orthodox sectors, which in turn increased opposition to it.
This was confirmed by coalition chair MK Ofir Katz, who said Thursday that an agreement was made where “the Conscription Law [will pass] and only after that the composition of the Judicial Selection Committee will be changed.”
He added that “We still don’t know what the law will look like, how it will be drafted, and what the numbers will be... but the law will be enacted in the next session of the Knesset.”
What is the purpose of the Conscription Law?
The Conscription Law seeks to lower the age of permanent exemption from 26 to 22, with a focus on promoting engagement in National Service and employment within the haredi sector. To offset potential backlash, the bill is set to include an increase in benefits for those who are drafted or serving in the reserves.
Also requested to be included in the bill is a clause that prevents judicial review on the legislation. This is in response to the fact that the law’s predecessor, the National Service Law passed in 2014 and 2015, was struck down by the High Court of Justice after they deemed the bill unconstitutional, saying it was too sweeping and unequal.
Coalition MKs have openly expressed dissatisfaction with how the bill has been reported, with Likud MK Eli Dalal telling Army Radio that “everyone should be recruited, including the ultra-Orthodox… we do not want a situation where 170,000 people are exempt.”
The opposition and protest groups also joined the choir of those against the bill, with the NGO Brother in Arms filing a petition to the High Court on Wednesday, asking them to immediately draft ultra-Orthodox, as the current bill technically expired at the end of June, although it was extended until March 31, 2024.
Negotiations between the haredi parties, the government, and the IDF will continue as the Knesset remains in its break.