Knesset dispersal vote uncertain as haredim, Edelstein hold late meeting
The negotiations were held in a series of meetings in the Knesset, and involved, intermittently, representatives of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A dramatic preliminary vote to disperse the Knesset was still on the agenda at press time on Wednesday, while negotiations over a new haredi draft bill ran late into the night.
The negotiations were held in a series of meetings in the Knesset, and involved, intermittently, representatives of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, namely government secretary Yossi Fuchs, Netanyahu chief of staff Tzahi Braverman, and parliamentary advisor Nevo Katz; coalition whip MK Ofir Katz; former minister Ariel Attias, who represented the Sephardic-haredi Shas party, along with other MKs from Shas and Degel Hatorah; Knesset legal advisors; and Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman MK Yuli Edelstein.
At press time, a meeting was ongoing in Edelstein’s office in the Knesset.
Opposition leaders announced in a joint statement on Wednesday morning that they intend to follow through with a preliminary vote on a bill to disperse the Knesset. As of 10 p.m., the opposition parties had not removed the bill from the agenda, indicating that they believed it would pass.
The decision came following a meeting between the leaders of all the opposition parties, including the Israeli-Arab parties Ra’am and Hadash-Ta’al, in the Knesset, during which they assessed whether or not they would have a majority for the bill to pass. Despite early public announcements that they would support the dispersal bill, haredi politicians were slightly more hesitant on Tuesday night as to whether they would follow through on their threat.
Their decision was risky, since according to Knesset rules if the bill does not end up passing, they will be barred from proposing a similar bill for six months.
Legislative process could take weeks
Even if the bill passes, it is just a preliminary vote, and the legislative process could take weeks before passing. Once it passes, the government continues serving as a caretaker government, all legislation ceases, and an election is set for a date within 90 days.Netanyahu has tried to delay, postpone, and buy more time for solving the crisis, and was expected to continue negotiations until the last moment. In recent days, he has pressured both sides to reach an agreement and compromise on the wording of the law, but significant gaps remain, mainly regarding the personal sanctions to be imposed on draft dodgers and when they will take effect.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich spoke over the plenum dais for over an hour at the start of the meeting at 4 p.m. in order to buy time.
Potential sanctions against draft dodgers include preventing them from leaving the country, barring them from receiving state housing discounts, removing daycare subsidies, preventing driver’s licenses, blocking state discounts on academic studies, and more. The negotiations are mainly focused on the details of the sanctions, including when exactly they will begin to apply and what they will include.
The influx of new haredi draftees would significantly lower the burden on reserve soldiers, and reservist groups have applied pressure on Edelstein to ensure that a bill passes that will lead to a real increase and not serve as another fig leaf for haredi exemptions.
Maayan Samun, spokesperson for Edelstein, wrote on X/Twitter in response to reports about certain agreements, “We are happy about every initiative to advance with the draft law, but every plan or document that is negotiated outside of Yuli’s office – must be discussed with us. When we receive a plan – we will discuss it and decide if and what to adopt. The law will be fair and effective. There is nothing else on the table.”
