The Israeli government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will collapse if a new outline for the ultra-Orthodox military draft bill is not agreed upon, Housing and Construction Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf warned in an interview to haredi outlet Mishpacha this week.
The United Torah Judaism (UTJ) chairman failed to provide a deadline for the re-negotiation of the haredi draft bill. On Monday, it was reported that Netanyahu’s government will request a five-month delay for the expiration date of current IDF conscription laws from the High Court of Justice.
The government will have until December to debate and formulate a new version of the controversial bill should the High Court approve the reported request for a delay.
Per previous Jerusalem Post reports, ultra-Orthodox party leaders clarified to Netanyahu that despite the sensitivity of the issue, they are insisting on the fulfillment of a coalition agreement clause to pass such a bill by the time the budget passes on May 29.
Haredi men dressed in traditional ultra-Orthodox garb stand behind a group of religious IDF soldiers (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)Meir Porush: Netanyahu should quit if he can’t fulfill coalition deals
Fellow UTJ minister Meir Porush also appeared to issue a threat to the prime minister this week.
Speaking in an interview with the Kikar HaShabbat news outlet on Tuesday, the Jerusalem and tradition minister said that Netanyahu should resign if he is unable to follow through on promises made to UTJ during coalition negotiations.
The existing National Service Law, which was initially passed in 2014, sets allotments of haredi draftees to the IDF per year and sanctions yeshivot that do not meet these allotments. However, the High Court deemed the bill unconstitutional in September 2017, since the exemption it gave was ruled to be too sweeping and thus violated the notion of equality.
The bill’s expiry date was repeatedly delayed and is currently set to expire on July 31.
Eliav Breuer contributed to this report.
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