Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition has exerted “massive pressure” on coalition lawmakers in recent days to vote in favor of the contentious haredi draft bill, Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel (New Hope-United Right) told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.
Haskel is a leading critic within the coalition against the legislation and has warned that the bill could endanger Israel’s security, as it would not enforce haredi conscription and fail to provide a solution to the IDF's manpower shortage crisis.
Haskel spoke to the Post after it was announced that the controversial bill was scheduled to return to the Knesset agenda this coming Wednesday to advance it ahead of its final readings, amid the crisis in Netanyahu’s coalition with the haredi parties, who have pushed for the legislation to pass.
Haskel told the Post that over the weekend, “phone calls were made to almost all coalition members in order to check their positions and pressure them to vote on the conscription law.”
She also noted that one of the goals of the pressure was to “publicly shame Likud members who will vote against the law.”
Many lawmakers refuse to support draft bill
“Because some of them oppose it behind the scenes but not publicly,” she explained.
Pushing to move forward with the draft bill was seen as an effort by Netanyahu to appease the haredi parties after he reportedly told them last week that the legislation did not currently have enough support within the coalition to pass.
Haskel said there was a large group of lawmakers refusing to support the draft bill.
Regarding the Knesset dissolution bill, which had been scheduled for Wednesday amid tensions, Haskel said that Shas leader Aryeh Deri had agreed to give Netanyahu another week to advance the conscription law.
She added that it was possible the dissolution bill would not be brought to a vote this week, depending on developments surrounding the legislation.
Haskel said she was leading a “bloc of resilience” inside the coalition to oppose the law and vote against it, adding that she firmly believed it would not pass.
She also said she would not support dissolving the Knesset, arguing that it was wrong for the haredi parties to break apart the coalition bloc over the issue.
Haskel pledged that potential harm to state security was a “red line” for her and said she would maintain her stance regarding the draft bill "no matter what the cost will be."
A separate Likud coalition source familiar with the matter also told the Post that throughout the weekend and on Sunday, the Prime Minister’s Office had been counting coalition lawmakers expected to support the conscription bill while holding talks aimed at securing a majority.
Haredi draft bill remains 'highly controversial'
The haredi draft bill currently being advanced in the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee remains highly controversial. Critics argue that the legislation is primarily intended to appease the haredi parties in Netanyahu’s coalition and would do little to increase enlistment.
The IDF has repeatedly warned of an urgent manpower shortage, particularly after more than two years of war.
Despite plans to resume advancement on the draft bill, Degel Hatorah spiritual leader Rabbi Dov Lando and MK Moshe Gafni met on Sunday evening and stated that their position in favor of dissolving the Knesset remained unchanged.
Numerous reports have stated that the haredi parties are seeking to move the election date up to September, ahead of the Jewish High Holidays, to increase haredi voter turnout.
Netanyahu reportedly opposed the move and instead sought to keep elections in October, allowing the coalition more time to advance legislation during the Knesset’s final session.
Even if elections are moved forward from the current scheduled date of October 27, they cannot take place in August because at least 90 days must pass after a Knesset dissolution bill is approved before elections can be held.
Meanwhile, the coalition has fast-tracked several controversial bills this week, scheduling marathon committee meetings to advance as much legislation as possible ahead of a potential Knesset dissolution.