The opposition stood up for the IDF: in Israel, they united against ‘immunity’ for draft-dodging Haredim

The leaders of Israel’s largest opposition parties made a rare joint statement against a bill that aims to stop the arrests and criminal prosecution of tens of thousands of yeshiva students who have not reported for military service. IDF Chief of General Staff Eyal Zamir warned: the initiative contradicts the needs of the army, exacerbates inequality, and could divide servicemen during the ongoing war.

In Israel, the debate over the conscription of ultra-Orthodox men has moved from coalition negotiations to a direct conflict between the country’s political leadership and the IDF command.

July 13, 2026 Yair Lapid, Naftali Bennett, Gadi Eisenkot, Avigdor Lieberman, Yair Golan, Chili Tropper, and the reservist movement of Yoaz Hendel published a joint appeal to the deputies of the ruling coalition.

They demanded not to support the temporary law that effectively blocks the application of the military service law to tens of thousands of Haredim.

The opposition emphasized that the vote is taking place not in peacetime, but against the backdrop of an ongoing multifaceted war and an acute shortage of servicemen.

“We urge coalition deputies to show responsibility and not vote for a law that will cause serious damage to the IDF during the war, contrary to the unequivocal warning of the Chief of General Staff,” the statement said.

The authors of the appeal warned that politicians who supported the initiative will “forever bear the shame of this vote” in the eyes of Israeli citizens who serve in the army, attend reservist gatherings, and work.

Who united against the law

The joint statement became a rare example of a coordinated position of almost the entire opposition camp.

It was signed by:

1. Yair Lapid — leader of the parliamentary opposition and chairman of the Yesh Atid party;
2. Naftali Bennett — former Prime Minister of Israel and leader of the Beyahad movement;
3. Gadi Eisenkot — former Chief of General Staff of the IDF and chairman of the Yashar! party;
4. Avigdor Lieberman — leader of the Yisrael Beiteinu party;
5. Yair Golan — former Deputy Chief of General Staff and chairman of the Democrats party;
6. Chili Tropper — opposition deputy, previously representing Benny Gantz’s political camp;
7. Yoaz Hendel’s reservist movement.

The joint appeal did not include the signature of Benny Gantz’s Kahol Lavan party. Gantz separately opposed the Basic Law on Torah Study related to this initiative.

He stated that Torah study is an essential part of Jewish heritage, but the state is obliged to protect the value of military service as well. According to him, there can be no rights without responsibility, and the defense of the country should not be placed solely on one part of the population.

What exactly does the coalition propose

The bill is officially framed as a temporary amendment to the Security Service Law.

It is important to understand: the document does not formally exempt yeshiva students from the obligation to serve and does not grant them a legal deferment.

Instead, it deprives the state of the main tools of coercion to fulfill this obligation.

The law provides that for yeshiva students who meet its conditions, it will be impossible to:

• initiate arrests;
• conduct investigations;
• apply enforcement measures for draft orders;
• initiate new criminal cases;
• continue already open criminal procedures.

Immunity is expected to be granted to tens of thousands of Haredim who received draft notices but did not report for service. Formally, the temporary provision is supposed to be in effect until November 30, 2026.

However, due to the upcoming parliamentary elections and the rules for extending temporary laws, its actual effect may last at least seven months. Eyal Zamir also indicated in his letter that the term is likely to be extended after the start of the election period.

In other words, an unusual legal construct arises: a person remains obliged to report to the IDF, but the state is prohibited from arresting and prosecuting him for refusing to fulfill this obligation.

This is why opponents of the initiative call it not a temporary settlement, but a law on draft evasion or an amnesty for evaders.

How will it be determined who is eligible for immunity

Protection from prosecution is expected to be provided to men who are officially registered as students of recognized yeshivas.

To do this, it will be necessary to submit declarations that the person:

• is indeed studying in a yeshiva or kollel;
• is engaged in Torah study for 40 to 45 hours a week;
• does not engage in other work or professional activities;
• has received confirmation from the head of his religious educational institution.

At the same time, the bill weakens the ability to financially penalize yeshiva leaders and their staff for false declarations about the status of students. Legal advisors warned that real control over tens of thousands of statements would be practically impossible.

The most controversial part of the law provides for the creation of a special commission of three senior IDF officers.

They are supposed to review the documents of yeshiva students and decide whether the applicant meets the criteria for protection from arrest and criminal prosecution.

In essence, army officers are being asked to confirm with their own signatures that a specific person who did not comply with the order to report for service should not be prosecuted temporarily.

Eyal Zamir: the law contradicts the needs of the army

July 12, 2026 IDF Chief of General Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir sent an unusually sharp letter to three recipients:

1. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu;
2. Defense Minister Israel Katz;
3. Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Boaz Bismuth.

Zamir emphasized that the law is being advanced in the midst of a multifaceted war, when the shortage of personnel is already directly affecting the IDF’s ability to perform operational tasks.

According to him, the proposed scheme will not bring additional people into the army. On the contrary, it will create an incentive to ignore draft notices, as potential conscripts will understand that they are not threatened with arrest and criminal prosecution for non-appearance.

“The bill does not meet the needs of the IDF — this is clear and unequivocal,” warned the Chief of General Staff.

Zamir highlighted three main problems.

Blow to the trust of servicemen

The IDF is simultaneously expanding the call-up of reservists, considering extending service terms, and trying to use all available human resources.

In such a situation, Zamir believes, the military system cannot demand unprecedented dedication from some Israelis while simultaneously formalizing mass protection from prosecution for others.

According to his warning, this will create a deep divide among the military, who have been bearing the brunt of the war for about two and a half years, and will further increase inequality.

The army has no authority and expertise

The Chief of General Staff emphasized that IDF officers do not have the necessary tools to verify whether a person is indeed studying the specified number of hours, not working, and meeting the internal criteria of a religious educational institution.

Such work is administrative and legal, not military.

Therefore, including officers in the procedure has no professional justification and merely attempts to shift political responsibility onto the army.

Distracting commanders during the war

Creating new commissions, checking thousands of declarations, and participating in a politically explosive process will require officers, time, and managerial resources.

Zamir warned that in the conditions of ongoing hostilities, this will become a heavy organizational burden and distract the command from operational tasks.

He demanded at least to exclude from the law the provision forcing army officers to participate in granting immunity.

The IDF needs 12,000 servicemen

The conflict around the law is occurring against the backdrop of an unprecedented personnel burden.

According to available estimates, about 80,000 ultra-Orthodox men aged 18 to 24 are subject to conscription but have not enlisted.

At the same time, the IDF states that it urgently needs about 12,000 additional servicemen to perform current tasks on various fronts. A significant portion of the new people is required for combat units.

Earlier, Zamir warned government members that without resolving the personnel crisis, the army risks “collapsing inward.”

At a ceremony at the National Security College, he stated that the IDF’s numbers need to be significantly increased: the army must perform all the missions assigned to it, and therefore it needs representatives from all parts of Israeli society.

For NANews — Israel News it is fundamentally important to clarify: the discussion is no longer reduced to a dispute between secular and religious citizens.

It is about the actual number of fighters, the duration of reservist service, the combat readiness of units, and the trust of those who are already bearing the military burden.

What did Boaz Bismuth respond

Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Boaz Bismuth rejected the criticism of the Chief of General Staff.

He stated that army representatives participated in discussions for three weeks and could have presented their objections earlier. Bismuth called the timing of Zamir’s letter suspicious, noting that the document appeared after the committee had already approved the bill.

The chairman of the committee also claims that the arrests of yeshiva students do not lead to their actual enlistment. According to him, IDF representatives could not provide an example where the detention of an evader resulted in his conscription.

However, reports from meetings show that officers repeatedly warned deputies: the initiative does not meet the army’s personnel needs.

The position of ultra-Orthodox parties is that arrests increase confrontation with the community and allegedly reduce the willingness of young Haredim to voluntarily enlist.

Critics respond that for two years the state has conducted very few active arrests anyway.

Following the 2024 Supreme Court decision, more than 79,000 draft notices were sent to ultra-Orthodox men, but about 2,100 people enlisted in the army. From January 2025 to January 2026, the police conducted only 17 active arrests of Haredim for draft evasion.

Therefore, the claim that mass arrests hinder conscription seems questionable: there were practically no mass arrests.

Lawyers warned of discrimination

Before advancing the bill, the legal advisor to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee warned that the document violates the principle of equality before the law.

One specific group of citizens receives protection from arrest and criminal prosecution for failing to fulfill an obligation that continues to apply to others.

Knesset legal advisor Sagit Afik also called the legislative process itself illegitimate.

The coalition used an old bill that had already passed the first reading, then removed most of its original content and turned a small element of the document into its main goal.

Such a method of advancing the law could become a separate basis for its annulment by the High Court of Justice.

In parallel, the Basic Law on Torah Study has already been adopted

The law on suspending arrests is only one part of a broader coalition scheme.

On the evening of July 13, 2026, the Knesset finally approved the Basic Law, proclaiming Torah study as a “fundamental value of the heritage of the Jewish people and the State of Israel.”

The document was voted for by 63 deputies, against — 52. The discussion and opposition obstruction lasted about ten hours.

The final version removed the provision that directly equated Torah study with military service. However, critics believe that the law creates a constitutional basis for further protection of the mass non-conscription of yeshiva students.

Likud deputies Yuli Edelstein and Dan Illouz voted against.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was absent at the final vote. Gadi Eisenkot called his absence cowardice and stated that the new law would become another indelible stain on the government’s activities.

The Movement for Quality Government immediately appealed to the High Court, claiming that the coalition is trying to turn draft evasion into a constitutionally protected value.

The organization warned that the Basic Law and the temporary ban on arrests together represent a de facto law on exemption from conscription, passed “through the back door.”

Political deal before elections

The promotion of initiatives is taking place in the last week of the Knesset’s work before its dissolution and the elections scheduled for October 27, 2026.

Ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism demand to stop the prosecution of yeshiva students and to enshrine the special status of Torah study.

In exchange, they support laws important to Benjamin Netanyahu, including changing the procedure for creating a commission to investigate the failure of October 7, 2023 and weakening the powers of the government’s legal advisor.

Against this backdrop, the debate over conscription has turned into part of a major pre-election deal.

The coalition seeks to maintain the support of ultra-Orthodox parties, while the Haredim receive laws that can mitigate the consequences of Supreme Court decisions and stop the ongoing enforcement of service.

The law has not yet been finally adopted.

As of July 14, 2026, the temporary amendment on immunity for yeshiva students was approved by the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and forwarded to the plenum for second and third readings.

Legislators have already begun discussing it, but at the time of preparing the material, the final voting result had not yet been officially published.

Therefore, it is incorrect to claim that immunity has already come into force.

Only a separate Basic Law on the study of Torah has been adopted. The law stopping arrests, investigations, and criminal procedures against draft-dodging yeshiva students is still undergoing the final parliamentary stage.

The debate is no longer just about the Haredim.

The study of Torah remains a central value of the Jewish people, and the recognition of this role itself does not cause controversy among most participants in the discussion.

The conflict begins where the state requires one part of society to serve in the regular army and reserves for years, while providing actual protection from fulfilling the same duty to another part.

That is why not only politicians but also the current Chief of Staff, former IDF leaders, reservists, and Knesset legal advisors opposed the law.

NAnews — Israel News views this story primarily as a matter of national security and equality of responsibility.

The IDF states that it lacks thousands of servicemen. Reservists spend hundreds of days on duty. The families of servicemen bear an increasingly heavy burden.

At this moment, the Knesset is not discussing how to bring additional groups of citizens into the army, but how to prohibit the state from prosecuting tens of thousands of people who have already ignored summonses.

This is what made the bill a point of unification for the opposition and the reason for one of the most sharp public statements by the Chief of the General Staff against the initiative of the current government.