Chareidi Parties Seem Set to Stay in Government Amid Draft Law Controversy

By Hamodia Staff

After the dramatic Supreme Court ruling Tuesday mandating the immediate conscription of yeshivah students, political circles have been abuzz about the next moves of the chareidi parties. Speculations about whether they would exit the government or continue supporting the coalition were rife. On Tuesday night, reports suggested that Shas and United Torah Judaism were considering withdrawing from the government and supporting it externally. However, it seemed Wednesday that the chareidi parties will remain in the government, at least for now.

Senior figures within the chareidi parties clarified that despite the Supreme Court’s decision on the draft law, they will not leave the government at this time. According to these officials, leaving the government without dismantling the coalition is pointless. “Why should we give our roles to Likud?” they explained, emphasizing that the matter is not currently under consideration.

The chareidi parties are in a bind. On one hand, they are part of a government that seemingly does not meet the needs of the chareidi community and arguably harms it. Consequently, many question the rationale for staying in a government that offers no benefits. On the other hand, they recognize that stepping outside the government could result in a worse scenario, potentially leading to a fully left-wing government imposing harsher measures on the chareidi community than the current situation.

Thus, following the guidance of the Gedolim, the chareidi parties have decided not to leave the government for now and instead seek to advance a draft law that balances the needs of dissenting Likud MKs and other parties with the interests of the chareidi community. Discussions on the draft law are currently underway in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, chaired by MK Yuli Edelstein, who has been a notable dissenter and may pose challenges to the law’s advancement.

On Tuesday night, Edelstein declared that “the draft law will pass with broad consensus – or it will not pass at all,” echoing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s sentiments from several months ago. His remarks surprised and puzzled coalition members, prompting Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to demand clarifications. Other coalition figures also expressed anger at Edelstein’s actions, accusing him of collaborating with Gallant to push for elections.

Coalition MKs clarified that Edelstein’s call for broad consensus does not mean giving veto power to Gantz and the opposition, contrary to Gallant’s earlier proposal. MK Tzvi Sukkot stated, “Carefully speaking, based on my understanding of Yuli and the way he manages committee discussions, I believe he is genuinely trying to create a draft law that meets the army’s needs and can pass in the current Knesset. Other interpretations miss the mark.”

Despite this, Edelstein seems intent on complicating matters for the coalition, possibly retaliating against Netanyahu’s briefings against him. On Wednesday morning, he announced at the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting that the vote on extending reserve service would be postponed due to a lack of “broad consensus,” despite majority support in the committee and the law passing its first reading urgently at the defense establishment’s request.

While the chareidi parties are dissatisfied with the Supreme Court’s draft law ruling, they feared a more stringent decision. The Court left significant leeway for the government, not mandating the immediate conscription of tens of thousands of yeshivah students but acknowledging attorney general’s figure of 3,000 conscripts alongside the usual annual conscription figures. There are no detailed instructions to the IDF in the ruling.

Chareidi party sources described the ruling as “neutral.”

“We feared the Court would order the distribution of tens of thousands of conscription orders to yeshivah students, but that didn’t happen,” they stated. The Court refrained from specifying numbers and indicated a gradual conscription, with 3,000 this year in addition to the current conscripts pending further decisions.

However, the ruling prohibits continued funding for yeshivos and kollelim for students without legal deferrals or exemptions. “Given the close link between support criteria and the normative framework allowing conscription exemptions, and support criteria stipulating exemption or legal deferral as a prerequisite for funding,” the judges explained.

The ruling set April 1, 2024, as the date when financial support to yeshivos and kollelim must cease, aligning with the expiration of Government Decision 682. “This remedy balances the harm to religious institutions with the severity of the legal violations in this context.”