Haredi parties boycott Knesset voting

The Hebrew newspaper Haaretz reported on Wednesday that Haredi parties have boycotted voting on bills in the Knesset in protest of delays in passing a law that would exempt Haredim from military service.

While Haredim threaten that conscription calls for military service could lead to the collapse of the government, Israeli media reported that Eyal Zamir, Chief of Staff of the Israeli military, has issued an order to draft thousands of ultra-Orthodox Haredi Jews into the army due to a shortage of personnel.

These media outlets added that Zamir instructed the army’s manpower directorate on Tuesday to issue a call-up for 50,000 Haredim to join the military, in addition to a previous call for 20,000 Haredim.

According to Hebrew-language media, Zamir’s decision is likely to impact Israeli society and the survival of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in the coming hours and days.

The Israeli military is facing a crisis of personnel shortages due to ongoing wars and plans to expand military operations. Ultra-Orthodox Haredi Jews, supported and encouraged by extremist ministers in Netanyahu’s cabinet, have been avoiding military service, sparking widespread protests among other Israelis.

Yair Lapid, leader of the Israeli opposition, recently stated that since the onset of the Gaza war, the Israeli military has issued call-ups for 18,915 Haredi youths eligible for mandatory service, but only 232 of them have enlisted.