Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered the leaders of the haredi parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism, that he would fire Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein, as a compromise to hold together the coalition, a source confirmed to The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.
This comes after Edelstein called on haredi politicians to exhibit “national responsibility” and refrain from toppling the government over their insistence to exempt at least half of eligible haredi men from IDF service.
“This is not the time to dismantle the right-wing government. The future of the state is not a political game, especially when the security challenges we face are more serious and existential than ever,” Edelstein said.
Edelstein's press conference came after haredi representatives on Monday rejected Edelstein’s proposal for a new bill, arguing that the proposal contradicted agreements that were reached on June 12, a day before Israel’s attack against Iran.
Haredi parties are concerned over the attempts to push a haredi draft bill through the Knesset.
Eliav Breuer contributed to this report.