Senior government officials are saying that passage of the conscription law will be postponed at least until the next winter session, as reported in Israel Hayom.
According to the report, today (Sunday) there will be a discussion on the issue chaired by Prime Minister Netanyahu. At the center of the discussion will be legislation of the conscription law, as well as the “Prestige of Service Law”, which is intended to significantly raise the soldiers’ pay, and above all to discuss the answer to be given to the Supreme Court towards regarding conscription in the haredi sector.
The conscription law has been in the plans for years under various governments. The pattern has been that the government enacts various laws while the Supreme Court overrules them. One of the main tasks of the current government is to remove the explosive issue from the Israeli agenda – but those pushing for the legislation are haredim, who want to resolve the issue once and for all, and not remain the focus of criticism.
Under the coalition agreements with the haredi parties, the conscription law is supposed to be introduced before the state budget so that the haredim have the budget to use as a bargaining chip. What ended up happening, however, is that the coalition did not have sufficient time to pass both and the budget ended up passing first. Now the haredim are demanding that the conscription law be passed immediately.
Apart from the desire of haredim to have the law passed, the state also needs to provide the court, which granted the government an extension until the month of July to resolve the issue, an answer on the issue. In the meantime, the law is slated to expire and in fact will oblige everyone to enlist – including the haredim – unless Minister of Defense, Gallant decides otherwise.
Regarding the government’s response to the Supreme Court, it will be able to pass a preliminary decision, present revisions to the current version of the law, or pass it in its first reading. One of these measures will prove to the court that it is paying due diligence to the issue and needs another extension.
The haredim demand is that a law be passed that, unlike past measures, will have no recruitment targets for its sector. Another demand is that the law not include fines for haredim who fail to comply with their conscription orders.
Yet another explosive issue that will be discussed by the government is the lowering of the exemption age. The Treasury wants to lower it as much as possible, but the security system believes that this will create an unequal situation for non-religious soldiers.