Goldknopf: Draft law must have no targets, no sanctions

Against the backdrop of secret contacts in recent days between senior figures in the Change Bloc and senior members of United Torah Judaism, in an attempt to engineer a complex political move to establish a minority government, MK Yitzchak Goldknopf has clarified that the red lines on the core issue remain unchanged.

Kikar Hashabat has learned that the chairman of Agudat Yisrael, MK Yitzchak Goldknopf, clarified over the weekend in closed conversations that the faction does not intend to retreat from its original demands. "We are standing on the demand for a draft law without targets and without sanctions," Goldknopf said. "This is not up for discussion, this is what the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah instructed us."

Senior figures in the Change Bloc are attempting in recent days to construct a political safety net: the swearing-in of a minority government led by Gadi Eisenkot, which would be based on abstention by United Torah Judaism. In such a scenario, the Netanyahu bloc would drop to just 46 seats, while the Eisenkot bloc would climb to 55 seats.

In exchange for the safety net, United Torah Judaism is demanding an agreed draft law and an anchoring arrangement for the status of yeshiva students. Senior members of the faction confirmed that contacts are indeed being conducted through intermediaries, but estimated that the chances of the move being carried out are currently considered very slim. The Change Bloc also assesses that it will be very difficult to reach a draft law that would be acceptable to all factions of United Torah Judaism.

At the same time, in closed conversations within United Torah Judaism, there is an assessment that if understandings are reached that settle the draft issue, the Shas party will join the move at a later stage. This assessment comes against the background of the electoral blow Shas suffered in the recent elections, when it plunged from 11 seats in the outgoing Knesset to just 6 seats in the actual results.

Yaakov Asher, Gadi Eisenkot and Benjamin Netanyahu (Photo: Kikar Hashabat, Chaim Goldberg and Avshalom Shoshani – Flash90)

A shift in the Change Bloc

On the other hand, a certain shift in attitude toward the chareidi public is being recorded in the Change Bloc. A senior MK in the bloc admitted in a conversation with Kikar Hashabat that following the election results, the possibility of compromising on the draft issue in order to enable the formation of a government is being seriously examined.

"The election results show that the public did not vote against the chareidim," the senior MK argued. "If we need to compromise on the draft issue in order to form a government, we will examine it seriously."

However, the great unknown and the main obstacle threatening the entire move is Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Liberman. In a statement he published over the weekend, Liberman made clear that he rules out sitting with or relying on the chareidi parties: "We will not sit with Bibi or with Tibi, not with Goldknopf and not with Deri. Not directly and not indirectly."

A senior source in Yisrael Beiteinu sharpened the message in a conversation with Kikar Hashabat and made clear that the faction will not compromise on the issue of equality in burden-sharing: "Liberman made clear that the first law in any government he is part of will be a draft law for everyone. This is a statement that came after the elections, and it is a central principle that we will not move from even at the price of going to another election. We will not sell out the fighters for the sake of power, conscription for everyone with zero exemptions."