Opposition leader Yair Lapid vowed on Monday that any Likud MKs who support the contentious haredi (ultra-Orthodox) draft bill due to pressure from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, “will not fall under the radar.”
“We will buy billboards all across the State of Israel, and if you support this law, on every corner of the country there will be a sign with your face on it, and underneath it will be written: ‘Supported draft evasion from the IDF during wartime,’” Lapid said.
Lapid made the remarks at a faction press conference in the Knesset on Monday, ahead of the first vote to dissolve the Knesset, expected for Wednesday.
He said that in the past two days, Netanyahu and his office have been exerting a massive pressure campaign on coalition MKs to convince them to support the draft legislation.
He said that in the past two days, Netanyahu and his office have been exerting a massive pressure campaign on coalition MKs to convince them to support the draft legislation.
“All of this just to gain a few more days in office,” Lapid noted.
Voting in favor of the haredi draft bill "will not pass under the radar"
Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel (New Hope-United Right) confirmed to The Jerusalem Post on Sunday that lawmakers were under “massive pressure” from Netanyahu’s coalition to support the haredi draft legislation. She added that one of the aspects of the pressure was the threat to “publicly shame Likud members who vote against the law.”
The Knesset announced on Sunday that the controversial haredi draft bill was scheduled to return to the agenda on 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.
Pushing to move forward with the draft bill is seen as an effort by Netanyahu to appease the haredi parties after he reportedly told them last week that the haredi legislation did not currently have enough support within the coalition to pass. This led the parties to push for the Knesset to be dissolved, which could trigger elections ahead of October 27, the currently scheduled date.
Lapid said that voting in favor of the haredi draft bill “will not pass under the radar.”
“Anyone who supports the draft evasion law should take into account that there will not be a single Israeli who does not know about it. Your children will know, your neighbors will know, there will not be a single Likud voter who does not know that you abandoned IDF fighters,” he said.
The opposition leader added that all lawmakers were aware of the IDF’s manpower shortage and that the draft bill being advanced by the coalition was “a humiliation to Zionism, a betrayal of IDF fighters, and a complete surrender to haredi political interests.”
The IDF has repeatedly warned of an urgent manpower shortage
“Despite this, Netanyahu is summoning Likud MKs to his office and telling them, ‘Don’t worry, no one will remember that you supported the law. By the time elections come, they’ll forget.’”
“I say to those Likud members: ‘They will not forget. We will make sure they do not forget,’” Lapid said.
Shortly after Lapid’s press conference, opposition factions said they were withdrawing all their proposals from the Knesset plenum’s agenda for the day in order not to continue “sustaining this dysfunctional Knesset.”
“We call on everyone to support the bill to dissolve the Knesset that will be brought forward this coming Wednesday – and to go to elections as soon as possible,” the statement from the opposition faction added.
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett, leader of the Together party, which recently merged with Lapid’s Yesh Atid, met with Yashar! party leader Gadi Eisenkot on Sunday evening, Bennett’s office said in a statement.
During their meeting, the two discussed the steps required within the “correction and hope” bloc ahead of the dissolution of the Knesset.
Bennett and Eienskot agreed to continue meeting again soon, the statement added.
Bennett and Lapid have called on Eisenkot to join their party, though the Yashar! leader has not accepted the offer.
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 of 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.
There are numerous reports that the haredi parties are seeking to set the election date in September, just ahead of the High Holy Days, 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.