Opposition leader Yair Lapid pledged on Monday that the next government would “repair Israel,” as other opposition party leaders vowed to repeal the coalition’s controversial legislation being advanced in a legislative blitz during the Knesset’s final week, before it goes into recess ahead of the October 27 elections.
Lapid made the remarks at the Knesset plenum, ahead of a vote on the contentious bill that seeks to enshrine Torah study as a fundamental value in the country’s basic law.
Critics argue that the legislation encourages draft evasion and changes the status of yeshiva students who do not serve, enabling them to continue receiving state benefits, even amid the IDF’s severe manpower shortage.
“The next Knesset will be a Knesset of repair. We will come here not to destroy, not to fight, not to steal, but to repair the State of Israel together,” Lapid said.
He sharply criticized the government’s current term, vowing that the opposition bloc would establish a state commission of inquiry into the government failures during the October 7 Hamas attacks in 2023.
“If, under your watch, October 7 was the moment of the greatest destruction, we will pass a state commission of inquiry so that Israel’s citizens will know that we have taken the first step toward repairing the fracture and healing the wound,” Lapid said. “Repair begins with acknowledging the truth.”
His statements come three years after the massacre, with no probe yet established amid an ongoing dispute over what kind of investigation should be conducted and who should lead it.
Oct. 7 investigation still pending
The political echelon has repeatedly blocked a state commission of inquiry into the events surrounding the attacks, despite polls showing huge public support for this type of investigation.
The coalition has recently advanced a contentious bill in its first reading to establish a politically appointed investigative committee to probe government failures during the massacre.
Other opposition party leaders in the bloc seeking to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the elections also condemned the coalition’s legislation while speaking during faction press conferences in the Knesset.
They spoke on their plans for the next government after the elections and pledged to repeal the legislation.
Yisrael Beytenu leader MK Avigdor Liberman said, “What we are seeing in the Knesset today, and what we will see throughout this entire week, is a liquidation sale of the State of Israel and all of our basic values.”
“Let it be clear: In the next government, we will repeal all of these laws,” he said.
“We must defeat draft evasion before it defeats us. The damage being done to the IDF, to security, to operational capabilities, and to the readiness of the reserve forces is unprecedented,” Liberman added.
Liberman calls to stop funding draft dodgers
He also called to halt all state funding to draft evaders and advance legislation that would enforce haredi conscription.
Democrats party leader Yair Golan said that “the 25th Knesset will be remembered as the most extreme, divisive, and destructive Knesset in the history of the State of Israel.”
“We will repeal every one of these destructive laws, one by one. We will repair all the damage caused by this government and this Knesset,” he claimed. “Instead of legitimizing draft evasion, we will lead a policy of equal military service. We will stop funding draft evasion and create a system that encourages military service, employment, and paying taxes.”
“Instead of the Basic Law: Torah Study, which cynically exploits Israel’s Basic Laws for political purposes, we will complete Israel’s Basic Laws, strengthen democracy, and lay the foundation for a constitution,” Golan said.