A stormy discussion took place on Sunday in the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee regarding the emerging draft law

Committee chairman Boaz Bismuth lashed out at representatives of Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara after being forced to grant them speaking time, saying, “I’m giving you 15 minutes. This committee will not serve as a platform for political speeches.”

Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon argued, “The arrangement proposed in the current bill not only fails to boost enlistment among the Charedi public, but it actually creates a negative incentive. It upends the entire existing framework and strips away the tools currently available to the government and the army. The bill will immediately restore direct and indirect funding to yeshivot and reinstate economic benefits to yeshiva students. It will eliminate the government’s duty to formulate an effective enlistment plan using economic measures, and it will nullify ongoing criminal proceedings against Charedi draft evaders.”

Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs fired back at Limon’s claims, saying, “No fewer than 55 discussions were held on every core issue of the law. Beyond Knesset members, officials from all relevant government ministries participated. We heard from civilians, reservists, and a standing representative of the Attorney General’s Office at every meeting.”

“But who did not attend the meetings? The legal advisors of the ministry responsible for this law—the Defense Ministry. The Attorney General’s prohibition on the Defense Ministry’s legal advisers from providing legal support during the legislative process and joining committee discussions is extremely serious.”

“This is an abuse of office. Anyone familiar with government hierarchies knows legal advisors in the relevant ministry review and refine issues first—and the Attorney General only weighs in at the end. Thus, every claim by Gil Limon about this law amounts to a ‘robbed Cossack’ argument.”

“There’s another factor: both the former and current Defense Ministry legal advisers see no issue with this law, so their stance differs—and they’ve been barred from committee discussions. [The Attorney-General] isn’t just blocking professional dialogue; she’s doing so because she’s aware their position opposes hers.”

“The ministry’s legal advisor’s effort to sabotage the bill began the moment we invoked the continuity rule. Gil Limon, for the first time in state history, claimed a legal impediment to continuity—which is unprecedented. The matter reached the High Court, and it rejected the petitions.”

“The government, especially post-October 7, recognized the need to significantly increase Chareidi enlistment—a substantive change that must be accomplished through dialogue. The goal is to raise enlistment rates—and that a Chareidi enters as a Chareidi and leaves as a Chareidi. That’s why we enacted major legislative shifts.”

“Anyone who thinks they will bring Chareidim through arrests has never recruited Chareidim. Enlistment dropped this past year due to arrests criminalizing lomdei Torah—further declines are inevitable and could halt entirely.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)