The Knesset announced Monday evening that all discussions on the Draft Law scheduled for this week in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee have been canceled. This decision comes in light of delays in formulating the law and growing tensions with haredi factions.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu subsequently summoned the committee chairman, MK Boaz Bismuth, for an urgent meeting at his office.
The delay is attributed to the legal advisory bodies' failure to prepare the legislation on time, further pushing back the process. Bismuth had initially expected the draft to be ready by Tuesday, but committee advisors indicated that more time was needed to finalize the wording.
Tensions with haredi lawmakers increased following Netanyahu’s comments at the start of the Knesset’s winter session, in which he stated, “We will recruit 10,000 yeshiva students over two years.” This remark provoked outrage among haredi MKs.
MK Moshe Gafni, chairman of the Degel Hatorah party, criticized the Prime Minister’s language, shouting, “How can he say ‘we’ll recruit yeshiva students’? We don’t recruit yeshiva students - we recruit haredim.” In response to the backlash, Netanyahu returned to the podium to clarify that he meant to refer to recruiting “haredim,” not just yeshiva students.
An official statement from Bismuth’s office clarified that the meeting with the Prime Minister had been scheduled in advance and addressed a range of issues on the committee’s agenda, including the Draft Law.
Bismuth aims to present the Draft Law at the committee’s next session, as requested by haredi MKs, in an effort to expedite the legislative process.