News
Knesset passes ultra-Orthodox draft law; referendum law on land concessions
The Knesset yesterday took final votes to approve two controversial items of legislation which will now become law.
The opposition boycotted both votes, in protest over a coalition agreement which saw coalition parties agree to treat three bills this week as one legislative package, effectively guaranteeing the passage of all. As a result, the bill to dramatically expand the military conscription of ultra-Orthodox seminary students was passed by 67 votes in favour with one against and no abstentions. The lone dissenting voice was Jewish Home MK Yoni Chetboun. The new law requires that all but 1,800 full-time ultra-Orthodox seminary students be required to enlist in either the IDF or civilian national service once they reach the age of 21. Although the bill has been a flagship item of legislation for Yesh Atid, it has been vehemently opposed both by ultra-Orthodox leaders and those who say it does not go far enough and point out it will not be fully implemented until 2017.
Finance Minister and Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid hailed the new law saying, “Today we brought you equality in the burden of [military] service.” However, ultra-Orthodox leaders reacted furiously. United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni said, “The ultra-Orthodox community will not forget this and it will not forgive [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and his partners.”
Later in the day, the Knesset passed another significant bill, which upgrades an existing law requiring a national referendum on relinquishing any territory under full Israeli sovereignty, to the status of a Basic Law. In the opposition’s absence, the bill passed unanimously. Basic Laws are usually afforded constitutional status by Israel’s courts. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the law is the “right, just, democratic thing,” as “a major diplomatic decision cannot be made without the nation.” However, Hatnuah MK Amram Mitzna questioned the democratic motivations of the bill’s proponents, arguing that they instead wished “to make any future peace treaty more difficult, complicated and maybe even impossible.”