Mon 13 July 2026:

An Israeli parliamentary committee approved a bill on Sunday to suspend the detention of ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Jews who evade mandatory military service, paving the way for final votes in the full Knesset later this week, according to local media, Anadolu reports.

The Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee approved a temporary order freezing the detention of draft evaders studying at religious seminaries, or yeshivas, Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported.

The newspaper said the governing coalition intends to press ahead with the hot-button legislation despite a legal opinion concluding that the bill “does not achieve balance, but rather deepens inequality.”

The bill is expected to be brought before the Knesset for its second and third readings later this week.

Under the proposal, the measure would remain in force until Nov. 30. However, Yedioth Ahronoth said it would effectively remain valid for six months rather than three because Article 38 of Israel’s Basic Law automatically extends any law set to expire within four months of the parliament’s dissolution until the end of the first three months of the next Knesset’s term.

Reacting to the committee’s approval, opposition leader and former military chief Gadi Eisenkot said on US social media company X that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition “discriminates between citizens in bearing the burden of military service.”

“In Netanyahu’s government, dodging military service pays off. In the government we will form, those who serve and defend the country will receive the appreciation and respect they deserve,” Eisenkot said.

The governing coalition is preparing for a decisive legislative week, expected to be the last before the Knesset is dissolved ahead of anticipated general elections in October, according to Israeli public broadcaster KAN.

Alongside the draft-evasion bill, the coalition also plans to advance a law which seeks to enshrine Torah study as “a fundamental value” in Israel.

Earlier this month, the Knesset approved the bill in its first reading by a vote of 63-53, granting Torah study special constitutional status and strengthening legal protections for students at Jewish religious schools.

Haredim make up about 13% of Israel’s population, which exceeds 10 million. They reject military service on the grounds of full-time Torah study, saying integration into secular society threatens their religious identity.

For decades, Haredi men avoided conscription at age 18 through repeated deferments for religious study until reaching the exemption age, currently 26.

But in 2024, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that Haredim must be drafted into the military and ordered the suspension of state funding for religious institutions whose students refuse enlistment.

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Reserve forces could ‘collapse’ amid manpower crisis

In May 2026, Israel‘s military chief warned lawmakers that the army’s reserve forces could collapse within months unless the government urgently enacts laws to increase conscription and extend military service.

In a classified meeting of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee on Monday, Israeli army chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, reportedly urged legislators to move quickly on laws extending mandatory military service to 36 months, increasing recruitment and revising reserve duty regulations.

“In January 2027, due to the reduction of mandatory service to 30 months, the IDF [Israeli army] will lose thousands more combat soldiers,” Zamir told the committee.

“The reserve army will collapse into itself,” he added, according to i24news.

Zamir warned MPs that after nearly three years of war on multiple fronts, the military is facing a severe manpower shortage that could undermine future operations.

“I do not deal with political or legislative processes,” Zamir said. “I am engaged in multi-front warfare and in defeating the enemy. In order to continue doing that, the IDF [Israeli army] urgently needs more soldiers.”

According to the Israeli news outlet Ynet, Zamir said the army “is at the lower threshold in terms of manpower” as Israel’s extensive military campaigns continue to exact a heavy toll.

His warning came weeks after he reportedly told the government that the military needs 15,000 additional soldiers, including between 7,000 and 8,000 combat troops, as Israel approved 30 new illegal outposts in the occupied West Bank requiring military protection.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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