Moving from crisis to crisis, and solving or deferring them indefinitely, seems to be something that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has become good at. It may be the secret to how he has managed to stay the Prime Minister for so long.

Following his solution to the recent coalition crisis, after the resignation of Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman and his Yisrael Beiteinu Party, Netanyahu has begun to set his sights on solving the Draft Law impasse, and he has just two weeks to do it.

The Prime Minister’s Office has revealed that they are weighing whether or not to appoint former coalition whip, MK Ze’ev Elkin, to be the point person for bringing all coalition partners in line in order to reach an agreement with regards to passing the law in the coming days.

The issue at hand is the refusal of the Chareidi United Torah Judaism party, amongst its various factions, to approve the law as it currently is written.

Degel HaTorah as well as Shas have sent messages to the Prime Minister alerting him that they are willing to pass the law in its current format with minor changes, but Agudas Yisroel refuses to sign the bill the way it is.

High ranking members of the coalition have stated that they do not believe that the coalition will be able to pass the draft law, and that the situation will eventually lead to the fall of the government.

The proposed legislation sets minimum yearly targets for drafting of Charedim that, if not met, would result in financial sanctions on Yeshivas. It also formalizes exemptions for the vast majority of Yeshiva Bochurim.

The Supreme Court has mandated that current conscription law expire on December 2. Should a new legislation not be voted into law, it would theoretically leave thousands of Yeshiva Bochurim unable to renew their deferments, making them eligible to be drafted by the IDF.

Should Agudas Yisroel not back the new law, Yesh Atid is said to be open to supporting it in its current form and would allow it to pass. However, should the Chareidi party choose to leave the coalition, it would force Prime Minister Netanyahu to either bring opposition parties into his government or head to early elections. Elections are currently scheduled to be held in November 2019.

Previously, Netanyahu said of the bill: “This is a good and balanced law. It balances between the needs of the IDF, which prepared it, and, of course, the needs of the Chareidi public.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)