Over the past two weeks, the coalition has advanced or renewed movement on a series of contentious legislative initiatives while Israel remains at war. This newspaper’s reporting has documented the continued push surrounding the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) draft bill, the approval of more than NIS 5 billion in coalition funds in the updated 2026 budget, and this week’s return to broader Knesset activity after a temporary wartime slowdown.
Among the measures now moving forward are a bill to establish a politically appointed committee to investigate the failures surrounding October 7, the communications reform bill, and a bill to split the role of the attorney-general into three positions.
The haredi draft issue remained at the center of the political agenda even after the Knesset shifted to limited wartime functioning. Last week, opposition leader Yair Lapid said the government was still advancing what critics call a draft evasion law while also moving ahead with unrelated coalition legislation during wartime.
Days later, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had shelved the draft bill as the war with Iran intensified after the issue had generated months of bitter political conflict over military service, coalition survival, and equality of burden.
The legislative friction was not limited to the draft debate. The government approved an updated 2026 state budget that added roughly NIS 30 billion to defense spending because of Operation Roaring Lion while also approving over NIS 5b. in coalition funds, including hundreds of millions of shekels for haredi institutions. The budget must still complete its final votes by the end of March, or the Knesset will dissolve automatically.
At the same time, coalition lawmakers continued to advance the so-called Western Wall bill. The proposal, sponsored by MK Avi Maoz, would grant the Chief Rabbinate the authority to determine prayer arrangements at the Western Wall and define what constitutes desecration at Jewish holy sites according to the rabbinate’s rulings.
On February 25, the Knesset passed the bill in a preliminary reading by a 56-47 vote. Netanyahu had canceled a ministerial committee vote on the proposal, reportedly to avoid a crisis with Diaspora Jewry, but the private bill still moved ahead in the plenum.
This week, after Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana announced a return to a more expanded legislative framework, additional controversial bills were scheduled. These included the October 7 political probe bill, the communications reform bill, the attorney-general split bill, and the death penalty for terrorists bill. Bereaved families from the October Council warned that advancing the probe bill under wartime conditions, with restricted public access and limited participation by experts and civil society, would deepen division and damage trust in the process.
Regardless of where one stands on any of these laws and regardless of the merits or flaws of each individual proposal, this is a terrible course for the government to take in the middle of a dramatic and existential war.
Not the time for these disputes
Israel can argue about the haredi draft. It can argue about the Western Wall. It can argue about the powers of the attorney-general, the structure of broadcasting regulation, and the mechanism for investigating October 7. These are serious disputes, and they will not disappear. They also do not need to be fought right now.
A country at war needs discipline. It needs priorities. It needs leaders who understand that even when a coalition has the votes to push something forward, timing still matters. Timing matters politically, morally, and strategically.
At this moment, Israelis are serving in reserve duty, mourning their dead, caring for the wounded, trying to keep businesses afloat, and helping children function under emergency conditions. Families are still carrying the weight of October 7. Soldiers are still carrying the weight of this war. In such a moment, the government should be narrowing the national agenda to what is necessary for security, resilience, and victory.
Instead, it is reopening some of the deepest fault lines in Israeli life.
That is reckless. It drains public trust. It sends the message that coalition management still outranks national cohesion. It tells broad parts of the public that while they are asked to sacrifice together, their leaders are still busy advancing measures that sharpen internal conflict.
The government needs to focus on the ball.
That means the war. That means the hostages. That means reservists, the home front, military readiness, reconstruction, and serious preparation for the day after. It means putting aside legislation that is bound to inflame, provoke, and divide.