PM: Gov't will find better solution to Tal Law

Israel Beiteinu will vote against renewing the law, Lieberman says; Labor's Herzog opposes extending law in current form.

By LAHAV HARKOV
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu 311 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu 311
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday said that the government would find the best solution for all citizens before the Tal Law is brought to a vote in the Knesset.
The prime minister defended the government’s decision to bring the Tal Law to a Knesset vote when it expires in six months, saying that the previous two governments automatically extended the law regarding haredi (ultra-Orthodox) deferrals of IDF service.
“We know there has to be a better solution, and we will bring the government’s proposal to the Knesset,” Netanyahu said.
He refused to answer questions as to whether the “better solution” is a new bill or not.
Netanyahu told reservists attending Monday’s Likud faction meeting that they are “the salt of the earth, and the state owes them a lot.”
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman announced that all 15 Israel Beiteinu MKs will vote against the Tal Law, at a press conference in the Knesset on Monday.
“No one needs to pressure me to vote for or against it – my stance is clear,“ he said. “Unlike other people, my word can be trusted.”
Lieberman added that he’s glad the government didn’t make a decision, allowing each party in the coalition to vote as it sees fit, and that his party will act against the renewal of the Tal Law.
According to the foreign minister, there is also no reason to delay the vote on the law for another year, because after 10 years that the Tal Law has been in effect, “there are clear results and we have already come to conclusions.”
Lieberman also explained that Israel Beiteinu is not anti-haredi; rather it supports “Judaism without politics.”
Labor MK Isaac Herzog also came out against extending the Tal Law as it is, saying it must be improved and revised.
"We need a law which will get more haredim enlisting in the army than do in the current situation," he said Monday.
Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.