Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and minister-without-portfolio Benny Gantz expressed outrage at the government’s handling of efforts to approve a law regulating the conscription of haredim (ultra-Orthodox) on Monday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been trying to promote a version of a conscription law promoted by Gantz in the previous government in 2022. Gantz has opposed the move, saying that the bill was already meant to be just an interim step when it was first proposed, and it is now insufficient to address the security needs of the State of Israel.

On Monday, the cabinet rejected an appeal by Gantz’s National Unity Party to block Netanyahu’s plan to promote the old outline. Within two weeks, the government’s request to apply the rule of continuity to the bill will be placed before the Knesset for a vote. If the Knesset decides to apply the rule of continuity, the process of approving the bill will continue as if it wasn’t stopped in the previous government.

Haredi ministers did not take part in the vote to reject the appeal on Monday. Gallant opposed the appeal but also opposed promoting the bill as it currently stands.

Haredim protest in Jerusalem against the conscription of ultra-Orthodox youth into the army. (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Haredim protest in Jerusalem against the conscription of ultra-Orthodox youth into the army. (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
“I don’t intend to participate in this political circus – the political appeal cannot be accepted just like the application of the law of political continuity cannot be accepted. Instead of the government devoting hours to reaching an agreement for the soldiers, we sit here for hours and argue for the voters,” said Gallant during the meeting, according to Israeli media. “It seems you have forgotten what the unity government was formed for, so let me remind you: for the war, not for the elections.”

'Politics comes before Israel's security'

Gantz expressed outrage at the decision to promote the bill in its present form, saying, “Today’s discussion was painful proof that among government ministers, politics comes before Israel’s security.”
“Instead of recruiting for service – they are trying to buy time. Instead of joining the war effort – they are coming together for coalition considerations. This law will not pass the Knesset, will not pass the High Court, and most importantly – will not pass the public, and the prime minister is responsible for this breach of security,” said Gantz.

Attorney general: Government doing 'quiet judicial reform'

On Monday, Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara stressed that once the last draft law expired in June 2023, there was no longer any legal basis for the government to not draft haredi yeshiva students.
“Without a law, giving different treatment to yeshiva members designated for service is contrary to the principle of equality and is unconstitutional,” warned Baharav-Miara.
The attorney-general added that the government had passed a resolution giving itself more time to figure out a solution for the draft law and that this resolution had been approved based on two conditions: the first, that a new law would be formulated by the summer of 2024, and the second that a new law would be formulated that adequately dealt with the issue of equality in the draft.
“The reality is that following the war, the military’s needs increased significantly, the economy’s expenses swelled, and the burden on the service members was increased dramatically. Therefore, I made it clear that it is impossible to advance government legislation on the issue of an equal sharing of the burden [of military service] without considering the position of the defense establishment or the military and their needs,” stressed Baharav-Miara.
“A professional legal advisor cannot protect, from a legal point of view, a situation in which the government, on the one hand, increases the burden on the service members and intensifies the violation of the right to equality; and on the other hand promotes government legislation, without being based on current security and economic data,” added the attorney-general.

Baharav-Miara stressed that she has not and would not support what she called the government’s attempt to circumvent the High Court's interim order that froze financial support to yeshivas where students were avoiding the draft.

“From here, the turn of events – or should we say the deterioration of affairs – was rapid,” said the attorney-general, pointing to the government’s request to exclude her from handling the conscription issue.

“In other words, the Israeli government sought to keep the guardians of law and order away, to eliminate the ability of legal advisors to act as a check on governmental power or to maintain the rule of law,” said Baharav-Miara. “It was not for nothing that I said that this course of action by the government is a continuation of the ‘judicial reform.’”
“The judicial reform was designed to remove checks and balances from the power of the government, to damage the existing guarantees for maintaining the rule of law and proper administration.”
The attorney general warned that the government’s decision to appoint a private lawyer instead of the attorney-general to supervise the formulation of a new conscription law created a situation where a lawyer in a “position of trust” who is dependent on the same people he is supposed to supervise, was responsible for a complex governmental issue.
“The attempt to neutralize the checks on governmental power not by way of legislation, but by dismantling the normal and proper ways of working, can be called a ‘quiet reform,’” said Baharav-Miara. “Our role is to shine a spotlight on the hidden phenomenon because the economic, social, security, and democratic costs of the lack of the rule of law are heavy.”