Former Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, MK Yuli Edelstein, issued sharp criticism on Tuesday evening regarding the Draft Law being advanced by the coalition.
In an interview with Kan 11 News, Edelstein argued that the current version of the proposal fails to meet the IDF’s needs, and accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of not exerting his full political influence to promote the legislation.
Edelstein pointed out that the IDF is currently facing a shortage of approximately 12,000 combat and combat-support soldiers, yet the law does not adequately address this gap. He also criticized the last-minute addition of new clauses - some of which were not discussed at all over the past year - claiming they were inserted merely to create an artificial dispute and present compromises as political gains.
Addressing Netanyahu’s role, Edelstein said: “I’ve known Netanyahu for 30 years. When something is important to him, he throws himself into it. That’s not what’s happening here. I know how many calls he makes and how many meetings he holds when he wants to get something passed. In this case - I haven’t seen that.”
Edelstein strongly condemned the law’s wording, stating: “What’s written there is evasion, not enlistment. The Bismuth Law is, unfortunately, a law of evasion.”
He warned that the political fallout could be significant for both the coalition and Likud: “Opposition to this law isn’t coming from Kaplan demonstrators - it’s coming from Likud and Religious Zionism voters.”