United Torah Judaism and Shas, Israel’s main Haredi political parties, are considering escalating political pressure on the coalition over the country’s stalled conscription law, Haredi media reported on Wednesday.
UTJ, which is the Ashkenazi Haredi party, is awaiting the outcome of a key meeting scheduled for Wednesday evening between party representatives and Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein, according to Behadrei Haredim, a prominent Haredi news site.
The Haredi parties are pushing the coalition to pass a law that would exempt a large number of young Haredi men from military service. UTJ has in the past threatened to pull out of the government unless progress was made on an exemption by June 3.
Legislating a wartime exemption would trigger considerable opposition from within the coalition itself and among many of its supporters, as well as protests by its opponents.
Israel’s war in Gaza has resulted in hundreds of Israeli military casualties and placed a major financial strain on thousands of reservists and the economy at large.
The rabbis of both the Hasidic and Lithuanian factions—the dominant forces within UTJ—are expected to issue a ruling following the meeting, according to the report. It said that unless a breakthrough is reached, UTJ may decide to vote against the coalition—a decision that would likely lead to the stalling of coalition-sponsored bills. UTJ may even join non-confidence votes, which, if passed, could dissolve the Knesset and lead to early elections.
Over 15 bills to dissolve the Knesset are currently pending, some from the opposition and others initiated by coalition MKs seeking political leverage as the summer session progresses.
Within UTJ, senior MK Moshe Gafni is pushing for firm action to achieve a conscription exemption, Behadrei Haredim reported, whereas others advocate patience. Some UTJ lawmakers are aligned with Shas, the Sephardic Haredi party, which prefers continued negotiations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party.
According to Avi Moskoff, a journalist for the Kol BeRama Haredi radio station, senior Shas politicians told him the party supports UTJ’s escalation move, and would even vote to dissolve the Knesset unless an exemption is passed.
Edelstein, the Knesset defense committee chair, is among the Likud lawmakers who insist that some Haredim perform national service under the new conscription law, and that draft dodgers face legal sanctions, Ma’ariv reported. His spokesperson, Maayan Samun, on Wednesday defended Edelstein’s stance against criticism that it was endangering the coalition’s stability.
“We are in a reality of fighting for our home, when our brethren are staggering under the burden of reserve service, when their families are collapsing and couples are getting divorces because of the pressure,” Samun wrote on X.
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, who is a member of Likud, predicted that the coalition would hold despite the current crisis. “This Knesset isn’t going anywhere – not now, and not because of cynical political pressures. We are in the midst of a war for the future of the country, and no one – not even those who already imagine themselves to have guaranteed positions from the opposition – will drag the State of Israel into unnecessary elections,” he wrote.
The conscription law “will be regulated – not with slogans or political maneuvers but with responsibility and respect for the world of Torah and for Israel’s security,” Karhi added on X.
Education Minister Yoav Kisch warned that :if the Haredim topple the government now, when we are at war, it would be an ignominy remembered for generations.”
Israel’s Supreme Court ruled last year that following the expiry of the exemption law in 2023, the state must begin drafting Haredi men. This put pressure on Israel’s political leadership to regulate the status of yeshiva students lest they face legal sanctions.
The Israel Defense Forces this year began initiating criminal proceedings against Haredi draft candidates who fail to report for enlistment.