Gallant forbids subordinates to aid PM's office in drafting haredi draft law

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has instructed the professional structures in his ministry not to collaborate with the Prime Minister's Office in preparing the conscription bill, according to Kan reports.

Gallant, who opposes the bill in its current form, issued this directive to make it as challenging as possible for the bill to be approved.

Both the Prime Minister's Office and the Defense Minister's Office declined to comment on this report.

Government sources cited by Kan stated that the refusal of professional bodies to cooperate with the prime minister's office in shaping the law makes its preparation extremely difficult.

"It's like preparing a draft budget without assistance from the Ministry of Finance," the source remarked.

As previously reported, the government meeting, where the conscription bill was slated for consideration and voting, has been postponed due to disagreements within the coalition.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is engaging in discussions with the heads of coalition parties to try to reach an agreement on the wording of the law.

The timing of the government meeting's commencement and whether it will take place today remain unknown.

The day before, the Yediot Ahronot newspaper reported that the government was amending the draft conscription law. According to the published information, the paragraph raising the age of exemption from service to 35 years has been removed. This paragraph faced sharp criticism as it allowed yeshiva students to continue studying or being enrolled in yeshiva until the age of 35 without being drafted into the military or holding any official employment.

Yediot Ahronot, citing an anonymous representative of the ultra-Orthodox parties, reported that the revised text will also include economic sanctions for evading service, with the consent of Shas and Ya'adut HaTorah. No criminal sanctions are included.

It was mentioned that the bill would be presented to the cabinet for consideration in the absence of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who is visiting the United States. Gallant opposes the bill and has stated that he will not support it in the vote. Minister Benny Gantz said he would leave the government if the bill was approved in its current form.

Earlier, government legal adviser Gali Baharav Miara informed government secretary Yossi Fuchs that she would not represent the government if a lawsuit were filed with the High Court against this bill.