The heads of the ultra-Orthodox (haredi) United Torah Judaism (UTJ) Party demanded Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately halt all judicial reform legislation until the IDF haredi conscription law is passed, Israeli media reported Tuesday.
According to an N12 report, the leaders of the haredi parties agreed that not only does the judicial reform legislation not serve the interests of their constituents, but it has actually led to a growing struggle against the haredi public, specifically around IDF conscription.
UTJ has said that the haredi conscription bill is their priority and stressed that it needs to come first ahead of continued judicial reform, Ynet reported.
Reportedly, the haredi party leaders plan to vote against any of the unilateral judicial reform legislations prompted by Justice Minister Yariv Levin and are urging Netanyahu to push for renewed negotiations to arrive at a broader consensus.
However, the Shas Party, the other haredi party in the coalition, has come out in support of the judicial reform. In a statement released Tuesday, the party said that Shas leader MK Arye Deri is Netanyahu’s partner in trying to push the overhaul through, Walla reported.
United Torah Judaism MKs Yitzchak Goldknopf and Moshe Gafni at a vote in the plenum session at the assembly hall of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, on December 20, 2022. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)Backlash against UTJ’s move came from Kaplan Force, one of the major protest groups trying to fight judicial reform.
“We will never allow this ‘draft dodger law’ to pass, it’s part of the regime’s judicial coup,” Kaplan Force said in a statement.
“We demand the full repeal of all of the coup legislation, including the ‘draft dodger law’. Until then, we will wage a war of attrition against the destroyers of Israel.”
The Knesset is currently in recess and is not slated to vote on any further judicial reform bills until October. However, they can still meet for emergency sessions.
Both Likud and UTJ leadership issued a statement denying any strife, stressing that both parties are working to pass both the conscription law and the judicial reform laws.
The debate over Israeli judicial reform and haredi IDF conscription
The haredi parties in the coalition have been some of Netanyahu’s staunchest allies as he attempts to push through the highly divisive judicial reform legislation. So far, one such legislation, the Law to Cancel the Reasonableness Standard, has been passed, being made into law on July 24.
However, Netanyahu has also said he plans to push ahead with another judicial reform legislation, in this case, the planned overhaul of the Judicial Selection Committee.
The debate over these reforms has sparked a massive wave of highly organized protests throughout the country, which continue without fail every week.
However, at issue is also the matter of haredi conscription into the IDF.
A longstanding issue in Israeli politics, the exemption for haredim to not be recruited into the IDF expired at the beginning of July.
Since then, attempts have been made to pass a new law.
Under the previous status quo, haredi yeshiva students were exempt from the IDF. However, this has long been seen as unfair by other Israeli demographics. By contrast, defending this status quo has long been a priority for haredi parties.
In late July, the haredi United Torah Judaism (UTJ) Party proposed Basic Law: Torah Study to codify haredi exemption from the IDF into law.
However, this sparked a severe backlash from other politicians and the Israeli public.
This debate also comes amid a rising wave of IDF reservists refusing to serve in protest of judicial reform legislation, and fears that this wave of refusals will harm the military’s combat readiness.
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