Israel National News: Has an agreement been reached on the promotion of the Draft Law? A report in the Hamodia newspaper, which is affiliated with the Agudat Yisrael faction of the United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party, said that an agreement was reached between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and UTJ chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf on the formulation and promotion of the Draft Law in the coming days.

According to the report, the planned law "will recognize the importance of Torah study and of Torah students and will thwart the harm being done to yeshiva students." The move, it was reported, follows instructions from the leadership of the haredi public.

Goldknopf clarified to Netanyahu that the law must pass three readings in the Knesset before the holiday of Rosh Hashanah, the report said.

The meeting between the two took place at the Kirya in Tel Aviv, with the participation of other senior officials from the offices of both.

According to the report, it was agreed that there will be a follow-up meeting between the sides next week, in order to monitor the progress of the preparation of the law.

The Draft Law has been met with obstacles, among other things from Likud members MK Amichai Chikli, Moshe Sa'ada, and Dan Illouz, who wrote a letter to the Prime Minister after the war broke out, saying, "We can no longer calmly accept a situation in which certain groups in society take the burden of security onto their shoulders, with its heavy price, while other groups in the nation of Israel continue to live their routines."

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant promised that he would not support the law, unless it received broad support, including from members of the opposition.

At the time, Netanyahu promised the haredi party heads that he would approve a private bill allowing an exemption from enlistment for yeshiva students. In June, the Knesset approved the revival of a draft law which had been put forth during the previous Knesset by MK Benny Gantz. However, a short time later, the Supreme Court ordered that all yeshiva students be drafted, and that funding for their yeshivas be ended.

UTJ then demanded that Netanyahu approve the Draft Law by the end of the Knesset's summer session, but this did not happen.

Source: INN  Photo: Amos Ben Gershom/GPO