The haredi (ultra-Orthodox) boycott of Knesset plenum voting will continue for the third straight week, spokespeople from all three haredi factions (Shas, Degel Hatorah, and Agudat Yisrael) confirmed on Sunday.
The boycott’s intention is to pressure the government to proceed with a law proposal to regulate haredi service in the IDF, which will likely exempt a large portion of eligible haredi men.
The boycott has only been applied to preliminary votes on new laws and on new government laws, but not on laws that are already making their way through the legislative system.
This could change pending an assessment by haredi MKs later this week, according to one of the spokespersons.
In other political news, National Unity chairman MK Benny Gantz proposed a bill that reached the Ministerial Committee on Legislation on Sunday, according to which voters on election day will be able to vote not only for a party but also for the makeup of that party’s Knesset list.
The bill proposal came on the backdrop of Gantz’s failure as of yet to live up to a promise to his number two, MK Gadi Eisenkot, to democratize the party.
While Eisenkot has remained loyal to Gantz, he has not committed to continuing as Gantz’s number two in the next election.
In an interview on Meet the Press on Saturday, Eisenkot repeated the position that he would do “whatever is best” for the “liberal democratic” camp.
Gantz’s proposal may have constituted an attempt to appease Eisenkot enough to remain in his party, without having to compete with him for the number one spot.
A recent Knesset poll
A poll published in Israel Hayom on Friday found that if former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett runs in the election, as he is widely expected to do, he would win 27 seats, versus the Likud’s 25.
Most of these seats would come at the expense of National Unity, which would win just seven seats. However, in the case Eisenkot ran independently as well, he could win eight seats if he stood at the head of an independent party.
Eisenkot has reportedly been courted by both Bennett and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid), who has consistently been polling below 10 seats, versus his current 24.