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Ya'alon denies there was a 'blow up' in meet with Plesner

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN

JULY 11, 2012 19:06

Vice Premier Moshe Ya'alon on Wednesday rejected claims from Kadima that there was a "blow up" in his meeting with Kadima MK Yohanan Plesner aimed at composing new legislation to replace the Tal Law with a universal service bill.

Ya'alon's comments came in an interview with Army Radio after Plesner had declared that the efforts to increase haredi enlistment in the IDF and national service had come to a "dead end."

"Kadima should come back. My door is open. I still want to pass a bill. If we don't succeed in legislating it by the end of the [Knesset] term, there might not be a bill. It looks more political than practical," Ya'alon said.

The Likud minister said that if a replacement for the Tal Law was not legislated by July 31 when the Tal Law expires, the authority to enlist haredim will go to the Defense Ministry.

"We will bring more people sharing the burden in the Arab and haredi sectors with or without Kadima," Ya'alon stated. "There is a principled argument on whether we want more haredim or to declare war on the haredim. They are insisting on throwing haredim in jail. Throw people in jail for learning Torah? If we do that, all the progress that has been made with the programs that there already are will go backwards," he added.

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