Watered-down Charedi draft bill set to become law after coalition compromise

One of the bitterest rows in Israeli politics, which at one point threatened to topple the government, may be in its final stages. Latest reports in Hebrew media suggest that the Charedi parties in the Knesset have given the coalition the green light to push ahead with a bill implementing conscription for yeshiva students. Channel 12 reports that Prime Minister Netanyahu has decided to press on with the law to "stabilise" his government. The coalition has, for the third straight week, pulled all its private members' bills from the Knesset due to the lack of a majority, following the withdrawal of United Torah Judaism (UTJ) over the draft issue. Shas, the other major Charedi party, remains in the coalition, but its members have resigned all ministerial positions and only vote with the government in key policy areas. The bill under consideration is understood to be a watered-down version of that developed under former Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee chair Yuli Edelstein. Edelstein, a Likud MK, was sacked from his role as chair after the withdrawal of UTJ. He was then booted from the committee altogether by the party, after voting against the government to advance a bill on the annexation of West Bank settlements. His seat has been filled by right-wing Likudnik Tally Gotliv, despite her previous public spats with Netanyahu over her sharing of conspiracy theories, including the claim that leaders in the anti-judicial reform protest movement were linked to Hamas. Under Edelstein’s successor as chair, Netanyahu loyalist Boaz Bizmuth, the new bill sets the target of drafting 50 per cent of the Charedi cohort each year. It also lowers the bar for yeshiva students to receive a draft exemption and reduces some of the sanctions on draft dodgers. Shas and Degel HaTorah, one of the two factions that make up UTJ, are said to back the new bill, making its passage likely. Agudat Yisrael, the other half of UTJ, is reportedly divided over the issue. Netanyahu is understood to be hopeful that it can be passed into law within the next month. The apparent compromise comes after hundreds of thousands of Charedim took to the streets of Jerusalem in the so-called “million man” march, protesting the detention of draft-dodging yeshiva scholars. More than 800 arrests have been made out of an estimated 6,975 Charedim who have defied conscription orders. Demonstrators blocked roads, disrupted traffic and gathered at the entrance of the city for mass prayers. Some reportedly held signs referring to yeshiva detainees as “hostages” and comparing the government's approach to the issue to Stalinism. Elsewhere, Channel 12 reporter Inbar Twizer was pelted with plastic bottles and sticks by protestors, forcing her to seek police protection in scenes described as “disgraceful” by Opposition Leader Yair Lapid. During the protest, a 20-year-old Charedi man, named as Menachem Mendel Litzman, died after falling from a construction tower around an incomplete skyscraper. Litzman is believed to have scaled a construction tower alongside dozens of other demonstrators in the afternoon. He then fell from the 20th floor and was pronounced dead at the scene by ambulance crews. While the circumstances of his fall remain unclear, Hebrew media is reporting that he may have taken his own life. Litzman is reported to have posted a farewell message to his social media profile before the protest. "To all my dear and true friends, I love you, I ask for forgiveness, I can no longer cope, I say goodbye to you with tears in my eyes and we will meet together with the Messiah," he is reported to have written.