Knesset legal adviser Shagit Afek has objected to the reported agreement between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the ultra-Orthodox parties over a legislative package tied to the Knesset’s expected dissolution. The objection, reported Wednesday night by Channel 13, is based on both technical and substantive grounds and could block продвижение of the plan. Despite the legal difficulty, Netanyahu said he intends to move ahead.
On Tuesday, after a joint meeting with Netanyahu, Shas leader Aryeh Deri and United Torah Judaism lawmaker Moshe Gafni said they had delivered an “unequivocal demand” to immediately advance the Basic Law on Torah study and a law to stop arrests of Torah students. They warned that if no practical steps were taken, they would support dissolving the Knesset as early as next week. Netanyahu, they said, told them he was committed to approving the laws and would work to advance them quickly.
According to the arrangement described in the report, Gafni and Deri were promised progress in first reading for the Basic Law on Torah study, legislation to prevent arrests of draft evaders, and the reversal of former Religious Services Minister Matan Kahana’s kashrut reform. In return, they would back a bill splitting the attorney general’s role and a proposal to establish a non-state commission of inquiry. Deri reportedly dropped his demand to legislate the cancellation of Kahana’s kashrut reform. Netanyahu is also expected to meet soon with Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich to secure his approval.
The reported understanding drew sharp criticism from opposition figures. Gadi Eisenkot accused Netanyahu of “selling off” Israel’s national interests and said the public would not forgive weakening the IDF during war. Yair Lapid said Netanyahu was “selling off the state,” while Yisrael Beytenu faction chair Oded Forer said soldiers were “like ducks in a shooting range” and predicted the public would replace what he called a government of draft evasion. He also said a future government would draft everyone without exemptions.
After the backlash, Shas and United Torah Judaism issued a joint statement denying that there was any deal with Netanyahu. They said their demand to advance the Torah-study Basic Law and the law against arrests of Torah students stood on its own, was not conditional, and that they had not given up any demand. They added that if the laws were seen to be advanced in practice, they could return to supporting coalition legislation, בהתאם to the instruction of the leading rabbis.
