Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jerusalem Minister Meir Porush (United Torah Judaism) on Wednesday held a meeting to discuss the coalition agreements between their parties.
According to Galatz journalist Yuval Segev, following the meeting Porush agreed to retract part of his harsh criticism and statement that if Netanyahu is not willing to pass the Draft Law, he should "go home."
The United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party estimates that following the meeting, the sides are close to agreeing on a solution to the Draft Law conundrum, in which Porush and the party's leading rabbis would agree to delay the Draft Law's legislation in exchange for an increase in the budgets given to schools which do not teach the core curriculum - another promise included in the parties' coalition agreement.
The Supreme Court has repeatedly struck down Draft Laws crafted by various governments, giving rise to ever more political instability. Despite the fact that the IDF and senior political echelons have long accepted the fact that the haredi community is not going to enlist in the IDF in significant numbers, the Court continues to insist that any legislation enshrining deferrals and exemptions be based on principles of "equality," which would appear to be impossible to achieve. Arab-Israelis, meanwhile, are not required to serve in any form.
The report also said that part of the reason Porush is angry at Netanyahu is because Netanyahu's office did not schedule a meeting with him for two weeks; such a meeting could potentially have minimized the crisis, but officials in Netanyahu's office decided that such a meeting was unnecessary.