Smotrich Pushed Emergency Bill to Stop Haredi Draft Evader Arrests

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich recently approached Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with an alternative legislative plan aimed at halting the arrests of Haredi yeshiva students classified as draft evaders. The proposal, revealed Tuesday on I24NEWS, is intended to stop the arrests and the riots and protests that have followed them across Israel.

According to reporter Amiel Yarchi, Smotrich wants a direct legal solution to the arrest issue itself, rather than an indirect attempt to settle the evaders' economic status. The effort comes after a prolonged wave of arrests of yeshiva students who did not report to enlistment offices on the instructions of leading rabbis, and were therefore defined as fugitives from military service.

The report said Netanyahu has already held several urgent conversations on the matter and instructed Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs to immediately advance the process with the relevant officials. At the same time, the matter remains wrapped in complex legal review, because the enlistment of yeshiva students and the draft evasion issue are under close scrutiny by the attorney general's office and other authorities.

The emerging plan under discussion is a fast-track bill passed as a temporary order. The coalition and the plan's backers are trying to complete the legislation as quickly as possible before the Knesset is expected to dissolve next month, in order to prevent the arrest campaign from continuing. Separately, the daycare subsidies bill is facing fierce internal opposition, and Minister Ofir Sofer has threatened to resign if it advances, prompting its removal from the agenda for now.