Israeli coalition crisis escalates over army exemptions for yeshiva students

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu concluded emergency talks Wednesday evening with Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee Chairman Yuli Edelstein as Israel’s governing coalition faces potential collapse over military conscription legislation, with both major Haredi-Orthodox parties now threatening to dissolve the Knesset.

The crisis escalated Wednesday when spiritual leaders of Degel HaTorah, a faction within the United Torah Judaism party, instructed their Knesset members to introduce legislation dissolving parliament after last-ditch negotiations with Edelstein failed. Shas, the other majornHaredi party, quickly followed suit, with party leader Aryeh Deri stating in an internal meeting that Shas also supports dissolving the Knesset.

Following Netanyahu’s meeting with Edelstein, the Prime Minister’s Office announced that “it was clarified that there is a way to bridge the gaps on the issue of conscription,” offering a glimmer of hope amid escalating threats from Haredi parties to dissolve the Knesset. Netanyahu has scheduled another meeting with Edelstein for Thursday afternoon, including Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs and former Shas MK Ariel Atias, who is coordinating Haredi recruitment negotiations.

The confrontation centers on a draft law currently moving through the Knesset that would require Haredi men to serve in the Israeli military, breaking decades of exemptions for yeshiva students. Edelstein, who is shepherding the legislation, insists on maintaining strict personal sanctions for those who evade military service, a position that has triggered fierce opposition from Haredi parties and even within his own Likud party.

“A law without effective personal sanctions, high draft targets and a high rate of increase – is not draft but evasion, and I have opposed this all along,” Edelstein tweeted ahead of his meeting with Netanyahu.

The proposed sanctions Edelstein supports are extensive, including cancellation of property tax discounts, tax credits, rental assistance, and academic subsidies for draft dodgers. The measures would also prevent non-serving individuals from obtaining driver’s licenses, leaving the country, or receiving public transportation discounts.

Adding to the political drama, prominent Haredi Rabbis Dov Lando and Moshe Hirsch, refused to meet with Netanyahu Wednesday, declaring “there is no point in further talks.”

However, Edelstein remained steadfast in his position. “As the chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee who is exposed to the security challenges facing us, I say with all my heart: We must not stop the work on the various fronts and engage in politics,” he stated. “The order of the hour is to promote an effective and genuine conscription law. After 77 years, we can make history.”

Likud lawmakers are said to be increasingly frustrated with what they feel is Edelstein’s inflexibility, with some pressuring Netanyahu to remove him as committee chairman.

The political maneuvering occurs against the backdrop of war. “While IDF soldiers and their commanders are in the midst of decisive efforts against Hamas, I am committed to them, to their families and for the sake of Israel’s security,” Edelstein tweeted.

The confrontation centers on a contentious draft exemption law that has become a litmus test for the coalition’s survival. Both United Torah Judaism and Shas demanded passage of the controversial military draft legislation by the Shavuot holiday, which ended on June 2. Their ultimatum warned that any delay would endanger the government’s continued existence.

Opposition parties have seized on the coalition’s instability, with Yesh Atid, Yisrael Beytenu, and The Democrats announcing they will submit a bill for the Knesset’s dissolution next Wednesday. But even if it passes preliminary readings, the process requires four separate votes, potentially giving Netanyahu weeks to negotiate a compromise before the Knesset’s summer recess.

The military began making plans to draft yeshiva students after Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled in June that exemptions for the Haredi community were illegal.

The army told lawmakers it faces a critical manpower shortage, needing approximately 12,000 new recruits, including 7,000 combat soldiers and seeks to recruit 4,800 Haredi men annually, a figure expected to rise over time.

Military service is compulsory for all Israeli citizens. However, Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, and the country’s leading rabbis agreed to a status quo that deferred military service for Haredi men studying in yeshivot, or religious institutions. At the time, no more than several hundred men were studying in yeshivot.

However, the Orthodox community has grown significantly since Israel’s founding. In January 2023, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported that Haredim are Israel’s fastest-growing community and projected it would constitute 16% of the population by the end of the decade. According to the Israel Democracy Institute, the number of yeshiva students exceeded 138,000 in 2021.