Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a closed-door discussion that the law freezing arrests of yeshiva draft evaders failed to achieve its goal and will not be renewed in the next government. “Whoever does not study Torah will enlist - or go to prison," he said.
According to a report by Kan News, Netanyahu explained that the law, passed as part of the government’s legislative blitz, was intended as a temporary solution to “lower the flames and increase the number of haredi recruits." However, he said the measure failed to meet its objectives.
The prime minister added that after the elections, “a broad national government will be established that will immediately pass a full enlistment law that meets the IDF’s needs." He said the new legislation would replace the current arrangement after the attempt to address the issue through the arrest-freeze law failed.
The report comes about two weeks after it was reported that Netanyahu was seeking to distance himself from the haredi parties ahead of the upcoming elections. According to the report, officials close to him believe that as the election campaign progresses, he will further separate himself from the haredi parties while attempting not to damage his political bloc.
It was also reported that on July 15, the Supreme Court issued a conditional order freezing the implementation of the law suspending arrests of yeshiva students who fail to report for military service. According to the judges’ reasoning, the law contradicted previous rulings on equal burden-sharing and the positions of professional officials, who argued that such measures encourage evasion of military service. A hearing before an expanded panel is expected to take place at a later date.