BREAKING NEWS

Bennett persuades Lapid to compromise on haredi draft

After three weeks of coalition talks, there has been no significant progress in negotiations between the two largest factions, Likud Beytenu and Yesh Atid, on the key issue of how to equalize the burden of IDF service.
But Yesh Atid did compromise on the issue for the first time over the weekend in ongoing talks with its political ally, Bayit Yehudi chairman Naftali Bennett.
According to a Channel 10 report confirmed by both parties, Lapid agreed to Bennett’s request to increase the number of haredim who would be given draft exemptions from 400 to 2,000. He also acquiesced to haredim being drafted at age 21 rather than 18.
Bayit Yehudi representatives will discuss such compromises with their Likud Beytenu counterparts on Sunday after rejecting the Likud’s plan for equalizing the burden of service in a meeting on Friday. At the meeting, Bayit Yehudi representatives also raised the issue of compelling haredim to study the core curriculum, including English and math. Such issues were also raised in a Likud meeting on Friday with Shas leaders.