A significant meeting took place Tuesday night at the home of Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch, one of the leaders of the Degel Hatorah movement. Attending the meeting were party MKs Moshe Gafni, Uri Maklev, Yaakov Asher and former MK Yitzhak Pindrus.
On the table were the details of the Draft Law being formulated by Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Boaz Bismuth, along with the question of whether the party should support it, oppose it or escalate the tensions by dissolving the government.
During the meeting, which lasted several hours, the MKs presented the details of the plan to Rabbi Hirsch clause by clause.
Sources in Degel Hatorah told Arutz Sheva - Israel National News on Wednesday morning that Rabbi Hirsch listened to the data presented but has not yet given his answer. On the other hand, they clarified that his rationale remains the same: to allow all full‑time Torah learners to continue learning without interruption.
Political observers estimate that Degel Hatorah holds the key to the coalition’s survival. “All eyes are on the Lithuanian leadership in Bnei Brak,” a political source told Arutz Sheva.
“If Degel Hatorah gives the green light for further legislation - then very likely Shas will support the law with full force. If it decides to oppose - the coalition collapses and we head to elections. Shas won’t ‘convert’ the law alone,” the source assessed.
Meanwhile, opposition to Bismuth’s draft is also emerging within the coalition. On Tuesday the Knesset held an emergency conference against the plan, attended by former Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chair MK Yuli Edelstein, Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel and soldiers' organizations. Edelstein criticized strongly: “We should not accept this decree of evil. The IDF cannot be a 'small, smart army' - it must be a large, smart army.”
Haskel stated that she intends to vote against the law, announcing publicly: “The current conscription framework does not meet the IDF’s requirements. I’m informing the coalition: You do not have a majority. Seven MKs will vote against the law, and it will not pass.”