Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara warned Sunday that the current language of the Haredi conscription bill would be impossible to pass as it would be considered an empty resolution and would be met with "significant legal difficulties," as the government tries to reconcile the diverging approaches within the shaky Coalition.
In light of Miara's opposition, the government is expected to drop the clause raising the exemption age to 35 in the draft recruitment law that will be submitted for the government's approval on Tuesday. Israel Hayom first reported on the plan to raise the exemption age to 35-40 (up by about 15 years).
A senior government official lamented that the clause was incorporated deliberately only to be taken out to give the impression of willingness to make concessions.
The maximum exemption age is currently set at 26, meaning that after that Haredi men can no longer get their exemption extended based on their declaration that "Torah study is my profession" under the controversial law that the High Court of Justice has asked the government to revise. While the exemption is in effect, the man who has not enlisted is required to study full-time in a yeshiva and cannot go out to work. Rather than lowering the exemption age as low as possible, as has been recommended throughout the years of formulating the various conscription laws, with various proposals suggesting lowering it to 21-23 in an attempt to integrate Haredim into the workforce at an early age despite not serving in the military, the security establishment now recommends raising the exemption age to 35 or even 40.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and In
Miara has made those comments in the wake of two top ministers, members of the War Cabinet, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Minister Benny Gantz voicing their opposition to the current outline of the conscription bill, as well as other lawmakers within the governing Coalition speaking out on the contentious topic.
"At this time, when the entire State of Israel is in a war of existence, it is absolutely clear that it is no longer possible to separate entire communities from serving the state," Likud lawmaker, Hanoch Milwidsky, posted on X, adding that "all party leaders" are expected to sit at the negotiating table until a solution is found.
While Israeli media reported the issue could topple the government, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid insisted during an interview with Kan that Gantz and his party leave the emergency unity government Coalition if the conscription bill were to pass as it is.
In the meantime, from within Likud, Gallant was stalwart on his position, "I will not be party to any proposal that is not agreed upon by all parts of the coalition – the defense system under my leadership will not present the law. Therefore, I do not stand behind the emerging proposal and will not support it."
This article was first published by i24NEWS.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
