Despite pressures from war cabinet member Gantz and Defense Minister Gallant, as well as legal pressure from the Supreme Court, which many predicted would collapse the current right wing government, the Likud and Charedi leaders are reportedly reaching unprecedented agreements regarding a law which will arrange the draft of Charedim.
According to Charedi news site Kikar Hashabbat, a little over two weeks after the Supreme Court ruled that the government must cease to fund draft-eligible yeshivah students and their yeshivahs, and after Defense Minister Gallant announced that he would not support a draft law which does not satisfy the demands of all members of the coalition, Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Charedi party leaders are not letting such obstacles stop them.
According to reports, Charedi Knesset factions have agreed to a draft of 25% of the potential of the first draft cohort, a higher number than previously discussed on this issue. This would mean the draft of no fewer than 3000 young Charedim - whether into the IDF or other service frameworks - from the very first year of the draft being regularized, with this number expected to grow gradually.
Agreement is also emerging regarding tighter oversight of the yeshivah system and its students, with methods developed to determine who is actually learning and who is merely formally a yeshivah student.
In addition, and for the first time ever, the two sides agreed in principle that those enlisting would be required to follow the law's requirements and those who do not enlist as required would be subject to legal sanctions of various kinds.
If the compromise is enacted in law, it would lead to a far-reaching advancement in the Charedi draft question, with the consent of the leadership itself.
