Ultra-Orthodox parties were informed Sunday morning that a bill exempting yeshiva students from military draft would be brought up for discussion Monday, after they rejected attempts by the ruling Likud Party last week to show willingness to advance the legislation in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
According to political officials, Shas and Degel HaTorah, the non-Hasidic wing of United Torah Judaism, received a message from the Prime Minister’s Office saying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would try to submit the bill, which the ultra-Orthodox parties have long demanded. The move could ease tensions between them and Likud after Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox leader Rabbi Dov Lando declared they were no longer loyal to Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc.
The draft bill debate is expected to resume in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, where lawmakers will examine whether it can pass. A bill to dissolve the Knesset, which the coalition is expected to advance in an effort to control the timing of elections, is still expected to come up Wednesday for a preliminary reading. Degel HaTorah has already said it will vote in favor of dissolving the Knesset.
The crisis between the ultra-Orthodox parties and Likud did not begin because Netanyahu was unwilling to submit the draft exemption bill, but after his aides told the parties they would have difficulty securing a majority for it. It does not appear that has changed.
Last Thursday, coalition ministers and lawmakers received calls from Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs and Coalition Whip Ofir Katz, who sought to determine whether they would support the exemption bill. The calls were part of an intensive effort to placate the ultra-Orthodox parties, which were informed of the move before the round of calls began.
The efforts continued over the weekend as Netanyahu’s circle tried to determine whether there was a majority for the bill. The move was also meant to show the ultra-Orthodox parties that Netanyahu was doing everything possible to avoid early elections, or at least trying to buy time so that the dissolution of the Knesset would be delayed.
Netanyahu’s aides have focused heavily on repairing ties with the ultra-Orthodox parties, especially after Lando’s remarks. Netanyahu is concerned that United Torah Judaism, and particularly Degel HaTorah chairman Moshe Gafni, are drifting away from the bloc, and he views the crisis as a threat to his alliance with the ultra-Orthodox parties.
It remains unclear whether there is a majority for the move because a determined wing of Likud opposes the exemption bill. Some ultra-Orthodox lawmakers are willing to cooperate, though Degel HaTorah lawmakers were instructed Saturday night by Lando not to be dragged into political horse-trading and to support dissolving the Knesset on Wednesday.
Last week, officials in United Torah Judaism also rejected outreach efforts by Netanyahu and his aides, saying they “will not take part in empty political games.”
“We cannot accept a situation in which the discussion about the world of Torah serves as political oxygen for another week of coalition quiet, while in practice there is no real intention to reach an arrangement recognizing the value of Torah study,” they said. “The time has come for a decision, not for delays.”