The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee renewed discussions Wednesday on the controversial Draft Law and legislation extending mandatory military service, following instructions from Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu amid growing political tensions surrounding the issue.

The renewed talks came shortly after MKs from the Degel Hatorah faction announced that they plan to support dissolving the Knesset during the preliminary vote scheduled for later Wednesday.

During the committee session, Brig. Gen. Shay Tayeb, who heads the IDF’s Planning and Manpower Administration Division, presented stark figures regarding the army’s manpower crisis.

“We have not yet received a new draft of the law. There is a need for 12,000 soldiers, and at the beginning of the year this will rise to 17,000 when soldiers are discharged after 30 months.”

According to Tayeb, the military is already facing an urgent shortage of between 6,000 and 7,000 combat troops.

He added that enlistment numbers have increased in part due to enforcement measures and penalties already being implemented, but cautioned that the broader situation remains alarming.

“there are already 30,000 draft dodgers now, and another 50,000 on the way to becoming draft dodgers.”

Tayeb also noted that the burden on reservists has grown far beyond earlier projections. While the army had originally hoped to limit reserve duty to approximately 55 days annually, he said the reality is far harsher.

“today we are at 80-100 days of reserve duty.”

Committee chairman MK Boaz Bismuth addressed the prolonged legislative deadlock as well as the public uproar over the punishment handed to a soldier who wore a “Moshiach” patch.

“Today we are resuming the discussion on the Draft Law after many long weeks, and at the instruction of the Prime Minister, out of a genuine and sincere intention to complete the legislation of the law that is so necessary at this time for the IDF, for the cohesion of the people, and out of the need to ensure that brothers do not turn to each other as enemies – certainly not during wartime,” Bismuth said.

Later in the discussion, Bismuth argued that efforts to increase chareidi enlistment cannot simultaneously reject outward expressions of religious identity and faith.

“You cannot want more chareidim in the IDF and at the same time be alarmed by every expression of faith or Jewish spirit that they bring with them.”

“If we want more chareidim in the IDF, we must understand that they will not arrive as secular people wearing a kippah; they will arrive with their value system, with faith, with symbols, and with a spirit that will integrate into a single Israeli partnership.”

Bereaved father Yehoshua Shani also addressed the committee and appealed directly to MKs Yuli Edelstein and Dan Illouz, both of whom oppose the current legislation.

“Show responsibility and support the Draft Law. This is the only law that will expand the enlistment of chareidim and prevent the rift from deepening.”

{Matzav.com}