Lapid Accuses Katz of Buying Chareidi Vote For Budget With Secret IDF Draft Proposal

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, addressing the Knesset on Monday, accused Defense Minister Israel Katz of holding a confidential document that lays out the principles of a chareidi draft law. According to Lapid, this document was presented to chareidi political groups to secure their backing for the budget, with the promise that it would exempt all chareidi youth from compulsory military service.

“Without this document, the Chareidim weren’t going to vote for the budget last week,” Lapid stated. “Then they voted, unanimously, for the budget. Why did they change their mind? They weren’t persuaded. They received the commitment they asked for.”

Lapid further claimed that the chareidi community is content with the document, as it guarantees that no chareidi individual will be drafted. “The Chareidim are happy with this document… because it says not one Chareidi person will be drafted. There won’t be a draft. It’s a total fraud,” Lapid said.

He accused the government of lying when questioned about the existence of such an agreement, demanding that Katz release the document to the public. Otherwise, Lapid warned, Katz risks losing the public’s remaining trust and will be remembered as “the Minister for Evasion Affairs.”

Lapid also alleged that former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was dismissed because he refused to approve an earlier draft of the same document. He further claimed that IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi was being sidelined due to his opposition to the proposal.

The opposition leader urged journalists to investigate the document and repeated his demand for Katz to make it public. He also vowed to expose the document himself if no one else did.

Addressing Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, Lapid said, “You’ve sent fighters, for a year and two months, to a war caused by your irresponsibility, for which you are guilty. They’re killed every day, they’re wounded every day, their lives are destroyed, their families are crushed. If this law passes, how will you look them in the eyes?”

“If this law passes, you have no right to send a single soldier to war. Whoever signs off on a distinction between blood and blood has no mandate to manage the war, and has no mandate to lead the state,” Lapid added.

Earlier this year, in June, Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled that the longstanding practice of exempting chareidi men from military service was illegal. A bill aimed at gradually increasing chareidi conscription is currently stalled in the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. The committee’s chairman, Likud MK Yuli Edelstein, has stated that the bill will only move forward if a “broad consensus” among lawmakers can be achieved.

The chareidi political and religious leadership has consistently opposed any attempts to impose military service on their community members.

An internal analysis from the Finance Ministry’s budget department criticized the bill, describing it as deeply flawed and unlikely to alleviate the strain on Israel’s reservists. The report noted that even a modest increase of 1,000 additional chareidi soldiers in combat roles would provide reservists with about two extra weeks off annually. It suggested that the chareidi community represents a valuable yet untapped resource for military manpower, but that these gains would not be realized if individuals volunteer for noncombat roles through alternative national service.

Critics of the exemption system argue that it unfairly places a disproportionate burden on the rest of the population, especially in light of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks and the ongoing war, which has seen over 780 soldiers killed and roughly 300,000 citizens called up for reserve duty.

Due to the ongoing war, many reservists have been deployed for extended periods, often unable to work. Normally, reservists only serve up to one month per year.

{Matzav.com Israel}