Coalition presents updated version of controversial IDF Draft bill, opposition vows to prevent 'anti-Zionist disgrace'

After months of discussion, an updated version of the government’s proposed IDF Draft Law bill was presented on Thursday by Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Boaz Bismuth.

The controversy over the bill caused the United Torah Judaism party to quit the coalition and led the Shas Party to lay down all its government posts, leaving the coalition with a razor-thin majority.

However, both ultra-Orthodox parties also blocked all legislation in the Knesset in recent weeks to further pressure the coalition.

The new draft bill was presented after receiving the tentative backing from the two parties’ senior rabbis, following extensive negotiations, as well as the approval of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In addition to the legislative boycott, the government is also under pressure from the High Court, which has pushed it to find a solution after ruling it cannot continue funding yeshivas (religious schools) whose students do not enlist in the army, and that it must implement the draft laws strictly.

The new proposal defines an ultra-Orthodox (“Haredi”) individual as anyone who studied in a religious or ultra-Orthodox institution for at least two years between the ages of 14 and 18. This broadens the definition to include those who have since left the Haredi lifestyle but would still be counted as Haredi soldiers.

The bill also proposes counting civilian service in the Shin Bet, Mossad, or Prison Service as part of the recruitment targets – up to 10% of the quota.

It also gives the Haredi community a year and a half to reach the first recruitment goal of 8,160 young men, enabling the restoration of school budgets and daycare subsidies even before it becomes clear the target has been met.

Recruitment targets then drop before rising slowly to 8,500 in the fourth year. Starting from the fifth year, 50% of the annual Haredi school graduates must be recruited to serve in the IDF.

The previous draft, created before former Defense Committee Chairman Yuli Edelstein was dismissed, envisioned semiannual targets to ensure the recruitment goals were met, and more stringent institutional and personal punishments.

Regarding institutional sanctions, Bismuth’s draft proposes restoring half of the yeshiva budgets immediately, with the remaining half to be reinstated at the end of the first year if at least 75% of the recruitment target is met. If that threshold is not reached, the budget will be reduced.

In the second year, the budget will be lowered if less than 80% of the target is met, and in the third year if less than 90% is met.

Regarding personal sanctions, the draft proposes forbidding yeshiva students from traveling abroad or obtaining a driver’s license until age 23.

They will also not receive income-tax credit points or be eligible for academic scholarships.

At the end of the first year, a sanction revoking daycare subsidies and public-transport discounts will be added, and later, more sanctions will extend to discounted housing programs and National Insurance contribution discounts.

Coalition sources told Ynet News that the new draft is stricter than a previous leaked version, and would start the process of “draining the pool” of eligible Haredi soldiers.

The bill will now be discussed in the committee before proceeding to the three Knesset readings required to pass a bill into law.

However, legal officials told Ynet that the bill is unlikely to survive a review by the High Court of Justice, as it does not meet the IDF’s manpower needs nor advance equality before the law.

The proposal has already drawn criticism from opposition leaders, with the Yesh Atid party chairman, Yair Lapid, vowing, “We cannot allow this anti-Zionist disgrace to pass. We cannot allow them to humiliate the fighters, the wounded, and the fallen like this.”

“This is not law, this is the contemptible politics of the corrupt and the draft-dodgers at the expense of our children. It will not be, it will not happen, it will not pass,” he wrote on 𝕏.

The approval from all coalition parties is also not guaranteed. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party said it would closely examine the proposal before deciding on a position.

“Our principle has been and remains: We will only vote for a law that will lead to real and rapid recruitment of Haredim into the IDF to meet security needs and ease the burden on fighters, reservists, and their families,” the party stated.