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Two weeks after the Chareidi draft law fell in the Knesset, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s coalition succeeded in securing a majority to vote for the approval of Avigdor Lieberman’s Chareidi draft law. The bill passed in its first reading with a vote of 51-48.

The Chareidi MKs are ardently opposed to the bill as it imposes penalties and fines on yeshivos if they don’t meet annual recruitment targets, which are set to increase incrementally over the years, to the point of a drastic reduction in yeshiva budgets.

The bill failed two weeks ago after Meretz MK Ghaida Rinawite Zoabi voted against the bill and one Ra’am MK, Mazen Ghanim, absented himself from the plenum. This time, Zoabi voted in favor of the bill, with her explanation hinting at another capitulation by Bennett’s government. “After I reached understandings with the coalition regarding the problems of the Bedouins in the Negev regarding land, unrecognizing housing and settlements, and the establishment of a comprehensive plan for the development of Bedouin villages in the Negev, and of course after the government has committed not use the Chareidi draft law for the ratification of a similar law for the Arab sector or any law connected to it that will affect the Arab sector, I voted today for the Chareidi recruitment law.”

UTJ MK Uri Maklev decried the government for ‘turning lomdei Torah into criminals,” adding that “the truth is known, there’s absolutely no need for the Chareidim in the army. The IDF already has thousands of soldiers who aren’t needed. And the most absurd thing is that the ones making the decision that lomdei Torah will be criminals are Arab MKs.”

UTJ MK Yaakov Asher mocked the coalition’s efforts to convince their Arab members to support the bill. “Bennett convened an urgent meeting with [Ra’am chairman Mansour] Abbas, and [Ra’am MKs] Zoabi and Taha, and the IDF Chief of Staff and the head of the IDF’s Manpower Directorate came to convince them that after the coalition passed the Electricity Law and promised to rebuild [Arab village] Khan al Ahmar, they are in dire need of extra IDF soldiers, whom they adamantly oppose,” he said cynically.

Prior to the vote, UTJ chairman Moshe Gafni excoriated the coalition from the Knesset plenum, saying: “This is one of the most despicable laws of the Am Yehudi. . Are you not ashamed to preach morality to us? How are you not ashamed?! It’s a disgrace!”

A tumult ensued in the Knesset plenum after the vote, when Gafni, who was sitting right behind Bennett, screamed at him: ‘Shame on you!” Bennett reacted with a “thumbs up” gesture.

United Arab List chairman Ahmad Tibi said: “We and the Chareidim don’t agree on political matters, there’s even an abyss. But, over the years, we’ve maintained an unwritten understanding about the most sensitive issue, that we don’t oppose matters related to their religion and they don’t oppose our issues related to religion. And therefore it’s forbidden for Arab MKs to vote for the recruitment law.”

“Secondly, when [the Chareidim] will be back in power, and it’s probable that the government will change in a few months, the right-wing bloc is ready to take action. There have already been several petitions to the Supreme Court by private bodies and organizations which demanded the recruitment of Arabs. [In the past] we responded that they didn’t recruit the Chareidim,” he ominously concluded.

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