The coalition is drafting a bill to regulate chareidi military enlistment, which, while exempting most members of the community, is expected to be retroactive. This will result in the cancellation of thousands of draft orders that have been issued recently, according to Channel 13 news.

Discussions about this new legislation have been ongoing for several months after the High Court of Justice ruled that the blanket exemption for the majority of the chareidi community was unconstitutional. The court also ordered an end to government subsidies for ultra-Orthodox daycare centers for families where one parent is required to enlist.

For most chareidi, military service is seen as incompatible with their way of life, as there is a strong concern that it would lead to the secularization of young adults. The community, which is often economically disadvantaged, is heavily reliant on government subsidies for yeshivas and daycare centers.

Channel 13 reports that Defense Minister Yisroel Katz has met with Likud MK Yuli Edelstein, head of the Knesset Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee, and the two have reached preliminary agreements. Edelstein has been pushing for a law that would force thousands of chareidi men to enlist, a proposal that has strained relationships with chareidi parties within the coalition.

According to the reported agreements, the bill will set annual recruitment goals for the army, as opposed to specific quotas. This means the responsibility for meeting these goals will fall on the army rather than the individual draftees. These goals will increase each year until they eventually cover half of the chareidi men eligible for enlistment.

However, disagreements remain. Katz insists on maintaining the target of 3,000 draftees, which the military has stated it can manage in the first two years, while Edelstein is advocating for a higher number to fulfill the IDF’s needs. Another point of contention is the severity of sanctions for yeshivas where enlistment rates fall short of the established goals.

{Matzav.com Israel}