Israel’s governing coalition has set an aggressive deadline to pass the long-delayed conscription law within two weeks, as the chareidi parties race against time to finalize the bill’s wording amid mounting political and legal pressure. The coming days are expected to determine not only the fate of the legislation, but also the stability of the government and the passage of the state budget.

Leaders of the chareidi parties acknowledge that every day without an approved conscription law weakens their position. As a result, coalition partners have decided to dramatically accelerate the process. According to a first report, the coalition’s goal is to complete the bill’s third and final reading in the Knesset within just fourteen days, in an effort to end a prolonged saga that has become a direct threat to the government’s survival.

Within the chareidi factions, the end of the current week has been marked as a critical milestone. Lawmakers are hoping that by then, the final version of the bill will be ready. Drafting the legislation remains the most complex hurdle, as significant disagreements between the various sides have yet to be fully resolved despite heavy coalition pressure and stated goodwill.

Attention is now focused on the legal adviser to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Miri Frenkel-Shor, who is tasked with translating political understandings into binding legal language that can withstand scrutiny.

The coalition’s plan calls for a rapid legislative “blitz.” Once the draft is completed, a comprehensive discussion on the revised text is expected to take place as early as Sunday. If that stage proceeds smoothly, committee votes to advance the bill are scheduled to begin the following Tuesday. The coalition’s ultimate objective is to bring the law to a decisive vote in the Knesset plenum the following Monday, formally closing the issue.

However, the ambitious timetable hinges on a single decisive factor: whether the version prepared by Frenkel-Shor by the end of the week will be acceptable to the Gedolei Yisroel. The days ahead are expected to be especially tense, with far-reaching implications not only for the future of the conscription framework, but for the coalition as a whole and for the approval of the state budget waiting in the wings.

{Matzav.com}