War minister and National Unity party leader Benny Gantz announced on Sunday that he would quit the government if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bill extending the exemption from IDF conscription for ultra-Orthodox (haredi) Jews despite the current war passes in the Knesset.
"The people will not tolerate it, the Knesset will not be able to vote in favor of it, and my associates and I cannot be part of this emergency government if this law passes," he said in his announcement.
"Passing such a law would be crossing a red line during normal times, and during the war, it's like flying a black flag over it," he added, "we will not be able to look in the eyes of fighters within our borders and beyond them, and ask them to extend their service."
The High Court of Justice previously imposed a deadline of this coming Wednesday for the government to explain in writing how it will present a new bill which will not violate principles of equality like the last law which the judiciary struck down as unequal in favor of Haredim.
A new ruling from the High Court could come as early as Wednesday or at an oral hearing scheduled for Thursday.
The fight between Gantz and Netanyahu
The fight between Gantz and Netanyahu over the Haredi IDF-national service integration issue does not occur in a vacuum.
For months, polls have shown that if a hypothetical election were to take place, Gantz would lead Netanyahu by double the number of Knesset seats.
However, polls have shown that many Gantz supporters want him to remain in Netanyahu’s government until the conflicts on the Gaza and Lebanon fronts are mostly resolved.
Gantz’s speech on Sunday showed he would view passing the Haredi IDF service exemption law as altering the fundamental political balance.
On Monday morning, Gantz doubled up on his opposition to the draft bill, calling for "a solution for conscription, not an exemption from conscription" in a speech he delivered in Kiryat Shmona, during a situational assessment of security in the north and assistance to residents who had to be evacuated.
He described the proposed bill as a "political compromise for the here and now" that would "dissolve the foundations of our house." He also demanded in his speech that any Haredi draft law passed should be "a complete solution for all parts of society."
The current bill proposed by Knesset, according to Gantz, is "... temporary and does not solve the draft issue for decades to come."
Yoav Gallant also opposes the bill
His speech came after Defense Minister Yoav Gallant earlier on Sunday said that he will oppose Netanyahu’s bill to prolong the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) exemption from IDF and national service.
Just as he was about to fly out to the US for meetings with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, and CIA Director William Burns about the Gaza war, he gave a parting shot to the prime minister.
While his main criticism was and has been against Netanyahu and the haredim, he did also press Gantz to show greater flexibility, though he was not specific about how.
Netanyahu has been rumored to be ready to extend the haredi exemption from IDF and national service in practice, while trying to make some symbolic gesture toward greater service.
Even before Sunday, Gantz has said he will only support at minimum obligating haredim to do national service.
Gallant has been more ready to compromise with the haredim than Gantz, but still feels the haredim must make a major change in their outlook in the aftermath of the war in Gaza in which 1,500 Israelis have died, and IDF soldiers continue to die in Gaza almost daily.
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid has said even Gantz’s ideas are too lenient toward haredim and that they should serve in the IDF like other Israelis.
Gallant also emphasized that his US meetings would hopefully help bridge differences between the US and Israel on attacking Rafah, continuing the war, humanitarian aid, and “the Day After” in Gaza.
The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, the main petitioner to the High Court for equal conscription to the draft law, responded to the days development, saying “For 25 years we have been tying ourselves in knots with bluffs and tricks that are only meant to postpone the decision and keep up the big lie that is equal conscription. The draft ‘evasion law’ that was made public today is another transparent and shameful attempt to continue to evade the obvious truth - there is no substitute for full and true equality before the law.”
“Equal conscription is an existential necessity for the State of Israel and Israeli society, and there is no way to achieve it other than the enactment of a uniform and equal recruitment law that will apply to all. Any other solution is a direct continuation of the fraud and lawlessness,” said the NGO.
Despite that criticism, Gantz has said that getting haredim to perform national service would be valuable to the country and a more palatable and achievable option in the eyes of the Haredi community.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.