The key principles of the Draft Law framework agreed on Thursday night between Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Yuli Edelstein and the haredi parties include immediate sanctions against haredi draft evaders.
According to the emerging proposal, the law will be enacted as temporary legislation for three years — with an option to extend — and will include a range of personal and financial sanctions for those who do not meet its requirements. Under the plan, a haredi man who neither studies Torah nor enlists in the IDF will face possible imprisonment.
The framework also includes a strict oversight mechanism for educational institutions, under which inspections will be conducted at yeshivas to verify student enrollment. Institutions found to have falsified records will face financial penalties and may lose their certificate of proper management, which is necessary for receiving donations. Yeshiva budgets and daycare subsidies will be guaranteed for the first six months regardless of draft targets.
Immediate personal sanctions upon the law’s enactment include: prohibition on obtaining a driver’s license until age 23; travel restrictions (with exceptions possible via a special committee; married individuals may request a one-week travel permit); cancellation of income tax credit points for men; elimination of small business benefits; and removal of academic tuition subsidies. An additional sanction, to be implemented six months after the law takes effect, is the cancellation of public transportation discounts.
Haredi institutions may choose between two economic sanctions: a reduction in yeshiva funding at double the rate of failure to meet draft targets or the cancellation of daycare subsidies. Longer-term sanctions include: one year after the law takes effect there will be a reduction in yeshiva and daycare funding, loss of eligibility for subsidized housing programs, and cancellation of national insurance discounts. Two years after enactment, purchase tax benefits for first-time homebuyers will be eliminated.
If draft targets are unmet for three consecutive years, the Defense Minister will be required to present additional sanctions. Failure to meet targets for four years will result in the law’s expiration. If targets are met in three out of four years, the legislation may be extended to six years.