Overview
- Reports on Wednesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Shas and United Torah Judaism to delay the conscription bill drew a swift denial from MK Moshe Gafni’s office, while UTJ chair Yitzchak Goldknopf accused the prime minister of breaking coalition promises.
- Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch withdrew his objection to advancing the bill on the condition that Rabbi Dov Landau approves, and Shas and Degel HaTorah now plan a coordinated go or no‑go decision within days.
- Knesset legal advisers flagged several major flaws in the bill’s wording, and senior legal officials say the High Court would likely issue an immediate injunction because the plan does not meet equality standards.
- Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chair MK Boaz Bismuth is still driving the process without full legal sign‑off, as National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and media figure Yinon Magal urge passing the bill now despite likely court intervention.
- The proposal seeks to set new rules for drafting yeshiva students, and delays risk harsher outcomes for non‑enlistees such as funding cuts or arrests as well as a lost window before the election period blocks passage.