Haredi party Degel HaTorah’s spiritual leader, MK Rabbi Dov Lando, instructed United Torah Judaism lawmakers on Sunday evening to stop cooperating with the coalition’s efforts to advance the controversial haredi (ultra-Orthodox) draft bill, once again setting back progress on the legislation. The Lithuanian Degel HaTorah and the hasidic Agudat Yisrael parties operate in a permanent alliance within UTJ.
The progress on the contentious haredi draft legislation has become intertwined with the push for the haredi parties – Shas and UTJ – to dissolve the Knesset and move up the election date slightly – from October 27 to September, before the High Holy Days, to better fit scheduling for observant voters.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly pushed to maintain the election date at the end of October. Meanwhile, no progress has been made yet on advancing the Knesset dissolution bill, which passed its preliminary reading last week, following the crisis in the coalition over the haredi draft bill.
Lawmakers in the Degel Hatorah faction within UTJ were told to hold off pushing the legislation anymore, Lando’s spokesperson told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.
Lando’s decision came amid doubt over whether the haredi draft bill can actually be passed, with multiple coalition lawmakers speaking against it and vowing not to vote for it. They have warned that it would not solve the IDF’s manpower crisis and could severely harm Israel’s security.
Lawmakers against the legislation had been under pressure from Netanyahu’s coalition to support the bill.
Lando’s spokesperson criticized the premier on Monday, saying that it was no longer possible to rely on the passage of the legislation.
“If Netanyahu really wanted to pass this law, it would have happened already. We know that party leaders tend to break promises and not stick to what they said before elections,” Lando’s spokesperson noted in a Monday Army Radio interview.
The renewed outline of the haredi draft bill was reportedly expected to be published on Sunday evening, after the coalition had resumed progress on it last week.
Netanyahu moving forward with draft bill in final bid against Knesset dissolution
Pushing to move forward with the draft bill, after progress on it was halted, was seen as Netanyahu’s final effort to persuade the haredi parties not to vote in favor of dissolving the Knesset, which would allow the coalition more time to pass legislation in its final Knesset summer session before the elections.
After the stance of the haredi parties shifted over the bill on Sunday evening, the coalition is now reconsidering whether to advance the haredi draft bill, which was meant to be advanced rapidly – according to a Monday Kan News report.
The possibility that the coalition will no longer advance the bill comes after Government Secretary Yossi Fuchs expressed his conviction that a majority could be secured to pass the haredi draft bill, in remarks he made on Thursday.
Meanwhile, no committee meetings have been set to advance the Knesset dissolution bill. If the coalition intended for that bill to be passed quickly in three readings, it could arrange for its progress to be expedited.
In parallel, the coalition submitted its own bill to dissolve the Knesset, which passed its preliminary reading last week, and must still undergo three more readings to come into law. The coalition’s submission of its own dissolution bill has been viewed as a way for the prime minister to control the pace and timing of the elections, as it grants the government greater control over the process.
Netanyahu’s bill proposes determining the election date in committee debates.
Even if elections are moved forward from the current scheduled date of October 27, they cannot take place in August because at least 90 days must pass after a Knesset dissolution bill is approved before elections can be held.
Directly ahead of the preliminary reading vote on the dissolution, the haredi draft bill had returned to the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee for debate.
Draft legislation lacks coalition support
Coalition tensions began after Netanyahu told the haredi parties that the draft legislation did not currently have enough support within the coalition to pass. This led the parties to push for the Knesset’s dissolution.
Degel Hatorah’s spiritual leader wrote in a letter to the faction’s Knesset members that, “We no longer have trust in Netanyahu.”
Critics of the haredi draft bill say it is primarily intended to appease the haredi parties in the coalition and would do little to increase enlistment.
Haredi party leaders have pushed for legislation that would not significantly increase enlistment from the ultra-Orthodox population to the IDF.
The IDF has repeatedly warned of an urgent manpower shortage, especially after more than two years of war.
In March, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir said the IDF could soon collapse if no solution is found to the manpower shortage.