Netanyahu to Members of His Government Coalition Regarding the Recruitment Law: Holding Elections at This Time Would Be a Mistake

SadaNews - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told members of his government coalition, amid pressure from the Haredi factions in his coalition to push the current version of the exemption law forward, that holding elections at this time would be a mistake. However, he promised them that he would push for the law to be voted on in the Knesset. Israeli Channel 12 reported that Netanyahu met on Thursday evening with members of the "United Torah Judaism" faction, where Haredi Knesset members expressed their grievances to him, demanding that he present the exemption bill to the Knesset for approval. According to the report, Netanyahu "committed to work on passing the law in the Knesset" during a meeting where Haredi Knesset members warned him and emphasized the "necessity of expediting the approval of the law." Knesset member Moshe Gafni told him, "We are not on the brink of a cliff; we have already crossed it," while Knesset member Yaakov Tzoller told Netanyahu that they "cannot go to the synagogues, due to the lack of progress in passing the exemption law;" they also expressed their dissatisfaction with budget shortfalls, according to the same report. For his part, Netanyahu assured them that he would work on passing the law, stating that he "does not control" only two members of the Knesset, namely Yuli Edelstein and Sharon Haskel. Netanyahu also claimed during the meeting that he would be able to exert pressure on other Knesset members who oppose the law, and that they would ultimately vote in favor of its approval. The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation ("Kan 11") reported that Netanyahu met with Knesset members from "United Torah Judaism" to discuss the exemption law. He had also met the night before with Minister Ofir Sofer from the "Religious Zionism" party, who announced his opposition to the law. The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation pointed out that this round of meetings comes "after a long period in which the Prime Minister has sought to stay away from the limelight" regarding a law that divides Israeli society. According to the report, Netanyahu informed Knesset members that "holding elections at this time would be a mistake." He added during the meeting that "the bill must be explained to the public, and I believe that the number of opponents from the coalition will ultimately not exceed two or three, and we will be obligated to complete this legislation as soon as possible." The report mentioned that Netanyahu met with Sofer in hopes of convincing him to support the law, while those close to the Prime Minister believe that he may be persuaded and that "Netanyahu has promised him to study how to increase mandatory recruitment for Haredi Jews, even before the law is passed." It is also expected that the "Religious Zionism" party will support the exemption law after consulting the party's rabbis, amid internal opposition to this. According to "Kan 11," in the meantime, Haredi Knesset members ended their boycott of voting this week and returned to vote with the government coalition. In a related context, "Kan 11" reported in another story that the Ministries of Finance and Justice have been discussing in recent days, "an exceptional measure to completely halt the budget for Torah institutes (yeshivas) until it is proven that they are not financing students who evade military service." The report added that this comes in the wake of a ruling issued by the Israeli Supreme Court, which stipulates that the state may not finance - even indirectly - students from Torah institutes who have been identified as students subjected to compulsory recruitment. According to the report, the "main concern lies in the fact that despite halting funding for students who evade service, the funds transferred to Torah institutes may still be used to finance them." The report noted that halting budget transfers is estimated to amount to billions of shekels annually, and "is a step expected to cause significant disruption among Haredim and the political system."