Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday afternoon, 11 Tammuz, announced he plans to have a vote on the new draft bill next week. This refers to the first reading of the bill. The chareidi parties have signaled they plan to vote against it. Government Ministers met this morning in a special session to discuss issues surrounding the law that is set to be sent to its first reading in the plenum next week.

During a meeting of the three heads of chareidi parties/factions, Aryeh Deri of Shas, Deputy Minister Yaakov Litzman of Agudas Yisrael and MK Moshe Gafne of Degel Hatorah, it was agreed they are opposed to the current version of the new draft law and plan to vote against it. The coalition may be relying on Yair Lapid and his Yesh Atid party to pass the bill, after he signaled he will assist with pushing through a new draft law.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that the 21 day waiting period will be over for the proposed bill and it can be brought for a preliminary reading in the Knesset next week. “Following the first reading, the bill will be brought back for full deliberations to the cabinet so that all factions can have their say regarding the bill before it goes to its second and third readings,” said Netanyahu.

Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri said: “I told the Prime Minister that on behalf of the Moetzes Chachmei HaTorah, our party will vote against the bill. We hold the value of learning Torah to be of the highest value in Israel, and we will stand up for the right of every lamdan to continue learning Torah without interruption. We will not vote for any infringement of the status of those learning Torah or the Bnei Yeshiva,” said Deri.

In truth, drama aside, it is only the first reading of three and it is understood changes will be made. Hence, an actual coalition crisis is not going to result, even if the bill passes in the first reading. Even if the chareidim oppose the first reading, it is nothing more than flexing their muscle since they are aware the bill will be backed by Yesh Atid, and perhaps other parties. Therefore, chareidi objections are more for show than actually bringing down the coalition.

Tomorrow, a committee is set to be convened under the leadership of David Amsalem from the Likud party and will include 13 MKs from the entire spectrum of the Knesset, both the government and the opposition. The committee is being tasked with preparing the bill for its second and third readings.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)