Senior officials within the Israeli chareidi parties are privately acknowledging that legislation regulating the status of yeshiva students and the draft law will likely not pass during the current Knesset term, according to conversations ahead of the opening of the Knesset summer session.

The upcoming summer session is widely viewed as the final realistic opportunity to pass the controversial legislation before Israel enters another election period.

“We failed in our central mission in the Knesset,” one senior chareidi party leader reportedly admitted during a private conversation over the weekend.

Another senior chareidi official said the parties remain deeply dissatisfied with the current wording of the proposed law and expressed serious doubt that it can advance in the present political climate.

“We are not at peace with the wording of the draft law, and it is difficult to see it passing during the current term,” the official said.

According to the report, much of the internal hesitation stems from objections to comments and revisions proposed by the Knesset’s legal advisers.

“The comments are unacceptable to us, so passing a law without any legal support could end up causing more harm than good,” the official added.

The report said the chareidi factions are now facing a critical decision regarding whether to continue pushing the legislation or postpone the battle until after the next elections.

As previously reported, Shas and Degel HaTorah are expected to decide in the coming days how to proceed regarding legislation regulating the status of yeshiva bochurim, with only a few months remaining before the likely collapse of the current coalition and the start of a new election campaign.

Officials in Shas reportedly continue supporting efforts to advance the legislation and are waiting for a final decision from Degel HaTorah. According to the report, the parties previously agreed that any move on the issue would only proceed in full coordination between the chareidi factions.

A senior Degel HaTorah official said a ruling from Rav Dov Landau could arrive within the next day or sometime this week.

At the center of the discussions are three possible paths forward.

The first option would involve accepting the demands and revisions proposed by the Knesset’s legal advisers, including stricter provisions and changes to the bill’s language.

A second option would be to pass the legislation without legal backing, despite fears that the courts could immediately freeze or strike down the law through injunctions and judicial intervention.

The third possibility would be abandoning efforts to pass the law during the current Knesset altogether and postponing the issue until after the next elections, in hopes that a future right-wing coalition would have stronger political leverage.

Another senior chareidi source involved in the draft-law negotiations said that the legislation currently lacks sufficient parliamentary support to pass.

“The law will not pass. It is not acceptable to us, but mainly because it does not have a majority in the Knesset. That is the truth. It will not have a majority during the final months of this term,” the source said.

The Knesset summer session, which opens this week, is expected to be the final opportunity to advance the legislation before Israel shifts fully into election mode.

{Matzav.com}