Opposition leader Yair Lapid presented his proposal for the Draft Law during the weekly Yesh Atid faction meeting today (Monday).
“I want to say something to the haredim: This situation cannot continue. It is an open wound. It cannot be that our children serve the state, endanger their lives, and you say “We’re not interested, we have political power and we will use it to release our children from having to serve in the IDF and at the same time increase yeshiva stipends at your expense,” Lapid said.
“Living together is not only about rights, but also about obligations. We have a common destiny and Israeli society needs a new social contract. No one is conspiring against you. What we offer you is exactly what we offer our children,” he said.
Lapid presented the Yesh Atid party’s Draft Law and hinted that the bill would be part of the negotiations between the coalition and the opposition at the President’s Residence on the judicial reform issue.
He said that the bill “is ready, it is right for the State of Israel, it can heal this wound in the heart of Israeli society, but I say in advance: we will not bring it to the Knesset’s session today at the opening of the session. The reason we are not bringing the bill today is that we are in the midst of the negotiations at the President’s Residence, and what is discussed at the President’s Residence cannot be brought to the Knesset yet.”
He added that “even the ‘draft evasion law’ that the government wants to promote cannot reach the Knesset. It is part of the negotiations, it is part of the attempt to reach broad agreements that will save the State of Israel from the greatest crisis in its history.”
The Yesh Atid bill is based on a draft law which was passed in 2014, when Yesh Atid joined a Netanyahu-led government and the haredi parties were in the opposition. That law would have instituted universal military and national service for the haredi sector in a manner similar to other populations within Israel, while allowing for a limited number of outstanding yeshiva students to receive exemptions to continue their Torah studies. The law was repealed in 2015 when the haredi parties rejoined the government.
