Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing attacks from opposition leaders and figures on the right after reportedly abandoning legislation freezing the arrest of Charedi draft dodgers. Netanyahu said in a closed meeting that the temporary measure had failed to increase enlistment and would not return under the next government, according to N12’s Amit Segal.

The remarks mark a sharp reversal. On July 15, Netanyahu defended the law as harmless and dismissed criticism as “false propaganda.” He now says he wants to form a broad national government after the October election and pass a comprehensive enlistment law meeting the IDF’s needs. “Anyone who is not studying Torah will enlist — or go to prison,” he said.

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called the announcement a “pathetic spin,” accusing Netanyahu of blocking Charedi enlistment while ignoring warnings from the military and reservists. Gadi Eisenkot said, “The public will not buy the new spin, which stems from fear of the polls,” accusing Netanyahu of advancing a “disgraceful draft-evasion law” only two weeks earlier.

Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman said Netanyahu was “continuing to deceive everyone and trying to divert the conversation from his failures.” He added: “One thing is certain — he has no government without the draft dodgers.”

Former Likud MK Dan Illouz, who left the party after opposing the legislation, said Netanyahu “thinks the public is stupid.”

Former minister Gilad Erdan, who is reportedly preparing a new right-wing party, said voters would no longer accept promises on either enlistment or unity. “We will not sit in anyone’s narrow government,” he said. The disputed law passed the Knesset on July 14 but was frozen by the Israeli Supreme Court, which is reviewing claims that its final version improperly bypassed a required first-reading stage.