A political storm erupted Monday as numerous coalition MKs — especially from the Religious Zionism party — publicly announced that they would vote against the current version of the new draft law submitted to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. But according to Chareidi party sources, Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu appears far less alarmed than expected.
Late Monday night, Netanyahu sent a message to senior representatives of the Chareidi factions stating that he believes he will succeed in assembling a majority to pass the draft law now under committee review. His assessment came even as tensions within the coalition intensified.
Chareidi lawmakers were stunned by the scale of opposition from within their own partnership. While they anticipated a handful of dissenters, they did not expect so many coalition MKs to openly declare that they would vote against the proposed legislation.
To make matters worse, senior coalition officials began briefing reporters that “the law was born dead,” a phrase first publicized by journalist Amit Segal. They predicted the bill would not survive a vote on the Knesset floor. Furious at the internal backlash — and at the media briefings — Chareidi party leaders delivered sharp messages to the Prime Minister’s Office demanding clarity and commitment.
Sources say that Netanyahu responded confidently, assuring the Chareidi factions that despite the vocal opposition, he expects to secure enough support for the legislation. He conveyed that, in his view, the law will pass its second and third readings within five weeks.
Still, senior Chareidi officials are deeply uneasy. They fear that in order to lock in the needed majority, the government may introduce substantial changes to the bill — particularly in the sensitive clause defining “who is considered Chareidi” for the purpose of calculating draft quotas. According to one veteran Chareidi figure closely involved in the negotiations, “We are barely able to vote for the current draft as it is. The rabbonim told us explicitly this is the absolute limit. If changes are made, Netanyahu may gain the votes of the Religious Zionism party and the Likud rebels, but he will lose the Chareidim — and once again there will be no majority.”
Meanwhile, the Religious Zionism faction issued a public statement Tuesday reiterating its stance: “We reaffirmed in our faction meeting that we will vote only for a law that brings about real and immediate enlistment of Chareidim to the IDF in order to meet the army’s needs and ease the burden on soldiers, reservists, and their families. We are consulting and formulating our comments on the law and will insist that they be incorporated in the legislative process. In any case, we will make decisions together and act as a united faction.”
{Matzav.com}
The International Committee of the Red Cross on Tuesday handed over to the Israel Defense Forces “findings” that had been transferred to it by Hamas, according to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.
The possible remains of a hostage were set to be sent to the Health Ministry’s National Institute of Forensic Medicine at Abu Kabir in Tel Aviv following a military ceremony with the participation of an IDF rabbi, it stated.
The PMO’s hostage and missing persons coordinator is in “continuous contact with the families of the two deceased captives, and in this difficult hour, our hearts are with them,” the statement continued.
“The effort to bring our hostages home continues without interruption and will not cease until the return of the last captive,” the PMO added.
The bodies of two hostages remained in the Gaza Strip: Israel Police counter-terrorism officer Master Sgt. Ran Gvili and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak, who was working in Israel’s south when thousands of Hamas terrorists invaded on Oct. 7, 2023.
Under the U.S.-brokered ceasefire that went into effect last month, the Palestinian terrorist organization committed to returning for burial all 28 bodies it was holding, on Oct. 13.
However, Hamas has slow-walked the return of the deceased hostages.
The most recent handover took place on Nov. 25, when the terror group transferred the body of Dror Or. He was buried on Sunday.
Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s office said last week that Hamas must fulfill its obligation, vowing that Israel “will not compromise” until every captive is brought home. JNS
{Matzav.com}
The Trump administration showed no sign of shifting course on Monday, even as a newly filed discrimination lawsuit took aim at its personnel decisions. Hours after the suit hit federal court, eight immigration judges stationed at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan were dismissed, according to an official with the National Association of Immigration Judges (NAIJ).
The legal action was launched that same morning by Tania Nemer, who argued she was removed from her position as an Ohio immigration judge because she is a woman, because of her Lebanese citizenship, and because she had previously run for local office as a Democrat.
Her claims land in the middle of a sweeping workforce reduction initiative. According to the NAIJ official, about 200 immigration judges have either resigned or been pushed out under the Department of Government Efficiency’s campaign to cut costs and streamline operations. Of that total, roughly 100 were outright terminated.
Despite the deep cuts, the nation’s immigration courts are drowning in cases. Syracuse University’s TRAC Reports estimates a staggering backlog of 3.4 million unresolved matters — and that number continues to climb.
In an attempt to plug the staffing gap, the War Department announced in September its intention to temporarily deploy 600 military attorneys to the immigration courts. But the NAIJ official said that only 25 of those lawyers have completed the necessary training and begun adjudicating cases.
Meanwhile, Congress previously authorized the creation of 800 permanent immigration judgeships as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Yet so far, only 11 new judges have actually been appointed.
Nemer’s lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, DC, asserts that her firing on Feb. 5 stemmed partly from her unsuccessful political campaign earlier in her career — a move she argues infringed on her Constitutional right to participate in political activity.
The DOJ, however, countered in her earlier Equal Employment Opportunity proceedings that the Trump administration “has the right to fire employees” and that Nemer’s removal was a “lawful exercise” of that authority.
Nemer, who began serving on the bench in 2023 under President Joe Biden’s administration, is now seeking reinstatement to her judicial post.
{Matzav.com}