Degel HaTorah’s leadership delivered a major development on Wednesday, informing their representatives in the Knesset that the roshei yeshiva had given the “green light” to allow the controversial draft-law process to continue moving forward. The decision, conveyed directly from Hagaon Rav Dov Landau and Hagaon Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, reopened a legislative track that had been frozen for weeks.
Until now, progress on the proposal had stalled inside the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, the body headed by MK Boaz Bismuth of Likud. Ever since the winter session began in October, the committee had been unable to push the legislation ahead, as it awaited guidance from the gedolei Yisroel.
According to Degel HaTorah’s announcement, “after the full bill is submitted, and even before the vote in the Knesset, the proposal will be placed on the table of the great Torah leaders” who will ultimately issue the final psak on how Degel’s representatives must vote on the matter. The faction emphasized that no step will be taken without their direction.
While Degel HaTorah now signals cautious readiness to hear the bill, Agudas Yisroel—the chassidishe half of UTJ—clarified that they have not yet authorized the process. Its chairman, Yitzchok Goldknopf, has still not received the formal outline, and without reviewing it, the faction is not prepared to advance anything.
Months ago, both UTJ factions—together with Shas—left the governing coalition after negotiations over the draft law collapsed. Their resignation left the Knesset evenly split, 60–60, a stalemate that has persisted since the summer.
MK Bismuth has been laboring on a revised version of the bill since assuming the committee chairmanship in July, shortly after the chareidi parties withdrew from the government. Earlier this month, his office disclosed that the Prime Minister’s Office instructed him to pause discussions because the outline had not yet received the necessary approval to be circulated.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid predictably blasted the development, claiming that approval from the Torah leadership was itself proof that the bill enables broad avoidance of the draft. “If anything definitively confirms that what has been placed before the Knesset is a full-fledged draft-dodging law, it is the rabbis’ approval,” Lapid said. “They would not have approved it if they didn’t know it was disgraceful draft-dodging.”
Benny Gantz also attacked the move, stating, “No matter what you tell yourselves, you do not have a green light to continue abandoning our soldiers and Israel’s security.” He continued, “You do not have a green light to enable mass draft-dodging for political survival.”
{Matzav.com}
