Overview
- The Knesset canceled all Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meetings on the Draft Law scheduled for this week.
- Committee legal advisers failed to finalize bill language on time after MK Boaz Bismuth expected a draft by Tuesday.
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu summoned Bismuth for urgent discussions, though Bismuth’s office said the meeting had been prearranged and covered broader agenda items.
- Tensions with haredi lawmakers escalated after Netanyahu said Israel would recruit 10,000 yeshiva students over two years, prompting a clarification that he meant haredim.
- Bismuth intends to present the bill at the committee’s next session as broader pressures mount over the 2026 budget, a Basic Law on Appointments, renewed judicial reform pieces, a death-penalty-for-terrorists push, and disputes over an October 7 inquiry.