Report: Early elections likely as ultra-Orthodox draft bill stalls in committee

Ultra-Orthodox lawmakers reportedly believe draft law will not pass in the current Knesset, will now work to force early elections.

By World Israel News Staff

Ultra-Orthodox lawmakers have lost patience with efforts by the Netanyahu government to pass legislation reinstating annual army draft deferments for yeshiva students and are increasingly convinced that the bill crafted by the ruling Likud party will not be approved by the Knesset before the next election, according to a report published Monday by Israel’s Channel 12.

For more than a year and a half, ultra-Orthodox lawmakers from the Shas and United Torah Judaism parties have pressed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ensure swift passage of a new draft law restoring the draft deferments, after the Supreme Court ended the practice in 2024.

The court had struck down the previous draft law in 2017, but granted the state repeated extensions, due to the political crisis from November 2018 to November 2022, the coronavirus pandemic, and the wars with Hamas, Iran, and Hezbollah.

MK Yuli Edelstein, a rival of Netanyahu within the Likud, had stymied efforts by UTJ and Shas to secure the restoration of the draft deferments, leading to a coalition crisis that was resolved with his removal as committee chairman.

While his replacement, MK Boaz Bismuth (Likud), oversaw the crafting of a bill ultra-Orthodox lawmakers ultimately accepted, the bill has been held up for weeks by the Knesset’s legal adviser, who has expressed opposition to the current version under consideration.

Now, according to Monday’s report, ultra-Orthodox MKs have reached the conclusion that the stalemate will not be overcome during the current Knesset.

As such, they are expected to push for early elections, moving the next Knesset vote up from its tentatively scheduled date of October 27.

“We are left with three possible dates for elections: June, September, or October,” said Channel 12’s Amit Segal.

The debate between the Knesset’s legal adviser and ultra-Orthodox lawmakers centers around the fate of yeshiva students who have already been called up for army duty, failed to enlist, and now face government sanctions.

While Shas and UTJ have demanded that once the bill passes, sanctions be lifted on those covered by the law, the Knesset’s legal adviser has argued that the law cannot retroactively lift sanctions on those facing punitive actions prior to the bill’s passage.