Haredim

Knesset dissolution bill vote set for Wednesday amid coalition crisis over haredi draft bill

Debates on draft bill to resume before vote, coalition rushes to fast-track controversial legislation ahead of dissolution

MK Boaz Bismuth seen with Haredi MK's during a plenum session at the assembly hall of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, January 14, 2026.
PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu is seen walking past haredi lawmaker Yitzhak Goldknopf, at the Prime Minister’s Office in 2023.

End the haredi kingmaker era or watch the state unravel - opinion

Israelis, bereaved families and politicians take part in a march in support of the conscription of ultra-Orthodox Jews into the IDF, from the entrance of Jerusalem to the Knesset, January 15, 2026.

The fascination with the haredi problem, and where it leads - analysis

MK Boaz Bismuth seen with Haredi MK's during a plenum session at the assembly hall of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, January 14, 2026.

Haredi draft bill back on agenda ahead of Knesset dissolution vote


Ultra-Orthodox rioters throw stones at bus carrying IDF soldiers during Jerusalem protest

Soldiers tried to help the police disperse the rioters, but were forced to go back inside the bus violently. The police had to use stun grenades to disperse the rioting crowd.

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men clash with police during a protest following the issuance of a parking ticket on Bar-Ilan Road in Jerusalem, on December 18, 2025.

Haredi IDF enlistment could save Israeli economy up to NIS 14 billion annually

A month of reservist service costs about NIS 38,000 ($11,700), while conscripting young Haredim is far cheaper and may even encourage them to join the workforce.

Haredi soldier

Bismuth's haredi draft bill advances in heated Knesset panel, lawmakers call it 'not nearly enough'

The continued discussions on the bill come after the chairperson of the committee, MK Boaz Bismuth (Likud), laid out his updated version of the legislation to the panel on Monday. 

Protests against haredi draft begins in Jerusalem, October 30, 2025.

Ofir Sofer is the first religious Zionist leader to say the king is naked - comment

Sofer, the first religious Zionist leader to publicly draw a red line on the draft bill, is making a choice to protect the "future of the IDF" over his own ministerial career.

Minister of Immigration and Absorption Ofir Sofer holds a press conference at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, December 1, 2025.

A defense of Israel's ultra-Orthodox - and a plea to their leadership - opinion

Haredim should organize large prayer gatherings not for their own needs but for the well-being of all our soldiers and all Israelis.

HAREDIM SCUFFLE with police outside Jerusalem’s IDF Recruitment Center, Nov. 12.

New haredi draft bill grants 'amnesty' for haredim called-up since 2023 - explainer

The new haredi draft bill softens personal sanctions, allowing draft evaders to regularize their status around age 26. This flexibility draws sharp criticism from the opposition.

Haredi soldier

Police arrest 14-year-old suspected in attack on MK Yoav Ben-Tzur’s vehicle

The incident unfolded amid heightened tensions in the ultra-Orthodox (haredi) community surrounding military-conscription legislation, which Shas supported.

Ultra-Orthodox demonstrators protest at the Bar Ilan intersection in Jerusalem, following the arrest of a haredi draft-dodger.

No more splinters: Israel can no longer fund its own vilification by haredim - opinion

The haredi protest, which took place last week, displayed the 'parisitism dressed up as piety' rampant in the haredi institutions which take public funding but revile the IDF

Masses attend ‘The cry of the Torah’ demonstration in Jerusalem last month. What took place was not holiness; it was hypocrisy, the writer charges.

Israel won’t be saved from the haredim. It will be saved with them - opinion

The real challenge is not the existence of such a community but the erosion of trust and communication between sectors.

THE STREETS of Bnei Brak: The haredim are not a burden on Israel’s back; they are woven into its social DNA, the writer maintains.

Is this next election cycle our last chance to save Israel’s future?

POLITICAL AFFAIRS: Professor Dan Ben-David, a leading economist, warns that Israel’s future depends on urgent education reforms, with the next election potentially its last chance.

Israel has ‘the worst education system in the developed world,’ according to Prof. Ben-David. Here, President Isaac Herzog greets students at the opening of the school year in September at Rambam Religious School in Kiryat Shmona.