Eisenkot Defends Universal Service Mandate as UTJ Seeks Draft Exemptions

Gadi Eisenkot vowed on Tuesday that he would not abandon his party's commitment to universal national service, even as the United Torah Judaism party said it is currently negotiating with him to form a government. Eisenkot, who is tasked with building the next cabinet, told his faction that Israel is at a strategic watershed. He emphasized that his bloc remains dedicated to creating a national emergency government without compromising on the principle that all citizens, regardless of background, must serve in the military, national, or civilian sectors.

The tension stems from the election results of last month. Eisenkot's Yashar bloc won 48 seats and ran on a platform of mandatory service. However, the ultra-Orthodox UTJ, a longtime ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is frustrated by the failure to pass legislation exempting yeshiva students from the draft. UTJ declined to back Netanyahu for another term, creating an opening for Eisenkot. Meanwhile, the Shas party, another ultra-Orthodox group, has remained in Netanyahu's camp and said it is not entertaining defection.

Yaakov Asher, the head of UTJ, outlined three non-negotiable demands for joining the coalition. He stated that the party will not join unless it secures military conscription exemptions for yeshiva students, ensures funding for unregulated education remains untouched, and preserves the status quo regarding religious rules in public life. Asher told the Haredi news site Kikar Hashabbat that without these agreements, there would be no coalition. He specifically warned against conditioning school funding on core curriculum requirements, asserting that the party must maintain control over the education of its children.

Negotiations are already underway, according to UTJ lawmaker Yitzhak Goldknopf. He told Channel 12 that preliminary contacts have been made and that there is room for discussion. Goldknopf noted that while Netanyahu is also in talks with UTJ, those discussions do not preclude a deal with Eisenkot. In contrast, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich urged Haredi leaders to reject negotiations with the new bloc. He called on Yashar MK Matan Kahana to refuse the Knesset speakership if it were elected with support from Arab parties, labeling such an arrangement as moral bankruptcy.

Avigdor Liberman, chair of Yisrael Beytenu, stated that he supports Eisenkot's candidacy but rejects reliance on the two Arab parties for the coalition's survival. Liberman outlined a plan for a 61-seat coalition, combining Eisenkot's 48 seats with the 13 seats held by UTJ and Shas. He conceded that the coalition would need to adopt a different model for conscription, specifically a law that survives High Court review. He identified the primary legislative priorities as replacing the Knesset speaker, appointing the state comptroller, and limiting the prime minister's tenure to two terms. The first government decision, he said, would be to establish a commission of inquiry into the events of October 7, 2023.

Yair Golan, chairman of the Democrats party, urged his partners not to rule out including Arab parties in the government. He argued that Arab citizens who serve in the healthcare system have the right to sit in the cabinet. Naftali Bennett, whose B'Yachad party won 12 seats, said his party is working to help Eisenkot build a Zionist coalition. Bennett indicated opposition to fully satisfying Haredi demands for draft exemptions, noting that the goal is to bring relief to overburdened reservists. The new 26th Knesset was scheduled to be sworn in on Tuesday.