Overview
- Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chair Boaz Bismuth reintroduced a coordinated plan to extend mandatory service, regulate conscription, and update reserve duty to boost IDF ranks.
- Bismuth said the laws will advance together at the IDF chief of staff’s request, and sources close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he aims to fast‑track the bundle.
- In filings to the High Court, Bismuth and Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs called earlier delays technical and said the coalition will push the package after the state budget passes.
- Opposition leader Yair Lapid said the plan would lengthen service and add more reserve days for those already serving while leaving most ultra‑Orthodox men exempt, and he vowed to block it.
- Shas leader Aryeh Deri said an exemption bill for yeshiva students is ready and has votes for the summer session, even as IDF leaders and the attorney general warn the proposal leaves loopholes and will not fix the manpower gap.