Opposition leaders announce they will go through with Knesset dispersal vote
Despite 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.
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.
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, in which they assessed whether or not they thought they would have a majority for the bill to pass.
Despite 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, after reportedly receiving a request from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to delay for one more week.
The opposition leaders also announced that they were removing all other items they proposed from Wednesday’s plenum agenda, in order to attempt to hold the vote as soon as possible. Earlier this week, the coalition placed dozens of items of its own on the agenda in order to buy more time.
The opposition leaders’ decision is 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. Even if the bill passes, it is just a preliminary vote, and the legislative process could take weeks before passing.
Netanyahu has tried to delay, postpone, and buy more time to solve the crisis, and is expected to continue negotiations with Haredim and with the chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Yuli Edelstein, until the last moment.
In recent days, Netanyahu has pressured both sides to compromise and reach an agreement 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 plenum meeting at 4:00 p.m. in order to buy time.
Negotiations throughout the day in Knesset
A series of negotiations went on throughout the day in the Knesset, according to numerous reports. Knesset Legal Advisor Sagit Afik confirmed midday on Wednesday that she was involved in the negotiations amidst the attempt to arrive at a compromise.Potential sanctions against draft dodgers include preventing them from leaving the country, barring them from receiving state housing discounts, removing daycare subsidies, preventing them from receiving 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/ 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.”
During a ceremonial session in the Knesset plenum hosting Argentinian President Javier Milei, Netanyahu sent a note to Edelstein. A photographer picked up the writing on the note, which said “Deri is going with Edelstein.” The meaning was not immediately clear.
