Haredi leaders to Netanyahu: Stop reform until consensus is reached - report

The ultra-Orthodox parties threaten to vote against unilateral reform

The heads of the Haredi ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism (UTJ) demanded that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu halt the judicial reform and only continue legislation with a broad consensus, Israel’s Channel 12 news reported on Tuesday afternoon.

The leadership of both Haredi parties reportedly reached the conclusion that the harm to their standing in the broader public is greater than any potential benefit the reform could give them.

After the Reasonableness Law was passed in July, Haredi leaders reportedly began signaling their desire to calm the Israeli public and renew efforts to reach an understanding with the opposition.

Despite Netanyahu’s recent statements that a bill to reform the Judicial Selection Committee would be the last judicial reform law, the ultra-Orthodox parties until now have insisted on the passage of a new National Service Law and its protection from court review by an override clause, which was part of the reform plans.

They may have been swayed by the anti-reform protest slogans attacking the Haredi parties, and by recent meetings with the Defense Minister and IDF commanders, who detailed the impact that another reform bill would have on the army’s combat readiness.

Shas and UTJ subsequently voted against any future plan to legislate judicial reform laws and demanded that Netanyahu declare an unlimited freeze of the reform, taking action to reach a negotiated settlement with the opposition.

When asked about how the ultra-Orthodox parties would respond if Justice Minister Yariv Levin, the main architect of the judicial reform, threatened to resign, a UTJ official told Channel 12: "We are not his kindergartner, until now we have only been harmed from his conduct, let him resign."

Last week, ALL ISRAEL NEWS reported that UTJ wants to ensure the passage of the National Service Law, intended to establish the terms of the exemption of ultra-Orthodox men from being drafted into the Israel Defense Forces, by adding a limited override clause.

Israel's National Service Law currently determines the annual allotment of ultra-Orthodox draftees to the IDF.

The law also determines legal consequences, including sanctions, for yeshivas (religious study schools), which do not allow enough students to meet the enrollment allotments.