Netanyahu is expected to fly on Saturday night and stay until Tuesday to attend the memorial service for Senator Lindsey Graham and possibly meet US President Trump.
Haskel, a member of the New Hope party, heavily opposed the bills aiming to stop the arrest of draft dodgers and to allow haredim to not be drafted into the IDF.
Bill passes 58-54 despite legal warnings, IDF opposition • Netanyahu heckled by opposition lawmakers shouting 'disgrace' before leaving plenum ahead of the vote
The hearing was the first since the indictment was amended last month to add senior Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu adviser Yonatan Urich as a defendant.
“The chief of staff should be the number one soldier and nothing else,” Shekalim said. “He is not supposed to be a lawmaker, and he is not supposed to set policy."
Former adviser to the prime minister, Aviv Bushinsky, said Netanyahu would try to preserve a political deadlock and keep the change bloc from reaching 61 seats.
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.
