The Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee held a meeting on Tuesday concerning the haredi draft law with the participation of the Defense Minister.
Coalition and opposition members engaged in a heated dispute on the issue, and a reservist was removed after shouting: "I lost dozens of soldiers, and you're talking about unity?"
MK Yinon Azoulay (Shas) argued during the discussion: 'I'm not sure the army can absorb all the Haredim, nor does it want to. We were told there's capacity for 3,000. The Chief of Staff stated that without public agreement, it wouldn't succeed. You can send 80,000 draft orders, but even those who enlist wouldn't come in such a case. I want to support the minister because, without agreement, nothing will help."
He added, 'Sanctions are being discussed, and I want to remind the previous government that they tried to buy us with a lot of money, and that didn't work. You were in the coalition and didn't bring a draft law because you knew you couldn't do it without agreement. There's no quota for Torah study, this is a Jewish state."
MK Gadi Eisenkot (Natinal Unity) stated, "We're witnessing a discourse that was present ten years ago, and the reality has changed dramatically. The security reality created by the events on October 7 means there won't be a normal routine in the coming years, but an emergency routine. The regular force will need to be very large for border defense and in Judea and Samaria. This law aims to correct a historical moral error that occurred in 1977 through a coalition agreement between Likud and Agudat Yisrael. The law created a distorted reality and harmed both Judaism and mutual responsibility among citizens."
"What's at stake is our shared future in the State of Israel. If no correction comes in the near future, it will be a turning point for shared life in Israel, leading us to not good places. Everyone needs to understand this," he emphasized.