The vote on the legislation comes following severe legal warnings that the bill is unbalanced, along with outcry from bereaved families and IDF veterans, amid the IDF’s severe manpower shortage.
The haredi-backed Basic Law passed its final Knesset votes after weeks of coalition tensions and warnings that it could encourage draft evasion.
Democrats Party leader Yair Golan said that “the 25th Knesset will be remembered as the most extreme, divisive, and destructive Knesset in the history of the State of Israel.”
The proposed bill “is a direct danger to the health of the citizens of Israel,” the deans wrote in a public letter shared on Monday.
The legal dispute comes as Likud leaders remain deadlocked over the party's primary rules despite days of negotiations involving Netanyahu, Katz, Bitan and other senior party figures.
Netanyahu reportedly has held several meetings with Katz ahead of the vote, seeking to bridge disagreements over the primary system.
Election season in Israel has officially begun, and the 25th Knesset will become the first time since 1988 that elections have been held after a full four-year term.
He is suspected of using funds from the Ma'ayan HaChinuch HaTorani education network to finance a private Shas-affiliated newspaper while serving as the network’s director-general seven years ago.
With the elections set to take place on October 27 as planned, this will be the first time since 1988 that elections have been held after a full four-year term.
The rare remarks suggested that Shas could potentially be open to joining a government led by Eisenkot, raising questions over the longstanding haredi alliance with Netanyahu's bloc.
Knesset Speaker Ohana said he had informed Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich of his budget-reduction initiative and that the funds are expected to be deposited in the treasury.
