Israeli authorities will issue more than 50,000 military draft notices to ultra-Orthodox Jewish men next month, amid deepening tensions within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition over the controversial conscription of yeshiva students, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara announced Thursday.
The statement followed a meeting between Baharav-Miara and senior military officials, including the head of the Israel Defense Forces’ Human Resources Directorate. The attorney general said the IDF would begin enforcement efforts against draft evaders in July.
The announcement sparked immediate backlash from the Jerusalem Faction, a radical ultra-Orthodox group that opposes military service. Protesters blocked Highway 4 near the entrance to the predominantly Haredi city of Bnei Brak on Thursday afternoon, tossing draft notices into a toilet in symbolic defiance.
Police declared the demonstration illegal and redirected traffic to alternate routes. Northbound lanes were closed from the Aluf Sadeh Interchange, with drivers sent to Route 471. Southbound traffic was diverted from the Em HaMoshavot Junction toward Petah Tikva.
The dispute over Haredi conscription has pushed Netanyahu's governing coalition to the brink. The prime minister met Thursday with Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Yuli Edelstein and former minister Ariel Atias of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party to resolve disputes within the coalition. Edelstein has demanded immediate enforcement of draft sanctions, a position opposed by Haredi lawmakers.
Earlier in the day, Netanyahu was seen receiving a note from United Torah Judaism leader Yitzhak Goldknopf at an event in Yeruham. Aides later clarified the prime minister had only asked for a blank sheet of paper. The two were also seen shaking hands.
In a sign of rising stakes, the Council of Torah Sages of Agudat Yisrael was scheduled to meet Thursday night in the village of Ora. The meeting was expected to back a threat issued by the Gerrer Rebbe and senior Lithuanian rabbis calling for either a mutually agreed-upon draft law or new elections.
Shas has not formally convened its rabbinic council but has conducted individual consultations. Party officials said rabbis delivered a clear message: support legislation acceptable to Haredi parties or back a bill to dissolve the Knesset.
Asher Medina, a Shas spokesperson, wrote in an op-ed published in HaDerech that the Likud party had “turned its back” on religious tradition, accusing it of enabling a “cruel and disgraceful campaign of persecution and humiliation” against Torah scholars.
The political standoff may reach a climax next Wednesday when the opposition plans to bring a preliminary vote on a bill to dissolve the Knesset. Haredi parties are expected to support the measure if no agreement is reached.
Senior ultra-Orthodox officials expressed little optimism. “Netanyahu doesn’t grasp the scale of the crisis,” one said.
Possible scenarios include Edelstein’s removal in exchange for Haredi support to keep the government intact, advancing the draft law without his dismissal to allow more time for talks, early elections in coordination with the opposition, or Netanyahu preemptively dissolving his government.
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Despite the turmoil, there is broad agreement across party lines to avoid holding new elections in October.
Edelstein addressed rumors of his potential ouster during a committee meeting Thursday. “If you’re asking whether I’m being removed, they’ve been trying for a year—and I’m still here,” he said. “I’m not working to break up the coalition or topple the government. But any good bill deserves to advance quickly to its final votes.”