Edelstein: I Alone Prevented Bad Chareidi Draft Law, Replacing Me Won’t Fix Problems

Knesset member Yuli Edelstein is taking credit for halting what he describes as a “draft evasion law” that would have provided a sweeping exemption from military service for the chareidi sector. His comments come as the Knesset House Committee prepares to vote on removing him as head of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and appointing Likud colleague Boaz Bismuth in his place.

“I fought for a real conscription law, but the chareidi leadership simply does not want conscription. Changing the identity of the chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee will not change anything. This dismissal will lead to chaos in the IDF,” he says, pointing to recent pronouncements from leading chareidi figures who have declared that any form of army service is prohibited.

Calling the move “the final nail in the coffin of the conscription law,” Edelstein states that he “will continue to fight for a real conscription law.”

Once the House Committee votes, the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee will hold its own vote to formally remove Edelstein and instate Bismuth — a development that Knesset legal adviser Sagit Afik has warned “could critically affect the integrity of the legislative process” and “disrupt the shaping of the bill.”

{Matzav.com Israel}