Boaz Bismuth, chair of the Knesset Defence Committee, has confirmed that the Charedi conscription bill is finally ready to advance to Knesset votes.
The committee had been due to discuss further amendments to the legislation this week, but those hearings were cancelled ahead of Bismuth's announcement.
The bill has been stuck in committee stage for months and has long been the source of a major political headache for the coalition.
The Netanyahu government relies on support from Shas and United Torah Judaism (UTJ), the Knesset's two main Charedi parties, to maintain its majority.
Both parties have demanded significant alterations to the bill amid mass opposition to conscription within the Charedi community.
Bismuth was installed as committee chair last July to break the deadlock when his fellow Likudnik, Yuli Edelstein, was ousted by the party for failing to agree compromises with the Charedim, almost leading to a governmental collapse.
Bismuth's revised version contains significant concessions to Charedi leaders, including a commitment to draft only yeshiva graduates, rather than current students, and time limits on the sanctions applied to draft dodgers.
It also contains a provision to count "security-oriented national service", including in the Shin Bet, prison service and police, towards the enlistment quota.
Nevertheless, some senior Charedi rabbis are still pushing to reinstate the total service exemption struck down by the Supreme Court in 2024.
Shas and UTJ have both threatened to pull their votes from the 2026 state budget if an acceptable version of the draft bill is not passed first.
Both backed the budget at first reading yesterday, but will reportedly withdraw their support for the subsequent two votes if their demands are not met.
In the event that the budget does not pass the Knesset by March, the parliament will be dissolved and fresh elections called.
New elections must be held by October anyway, but the coalition is reportedly eyeing up a polling date in May at the earliest, and a governmental collapse could harm its chances at the ballot box.
The draft bill will now advance to the Knesset for three readings, the first of which is yet to be scheduled, before it can be signed into law.
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