Netanyahu Pulls Draft Speech at Last Minute as Bennett, Lapid Detonate Political Firestorm

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced a pre-recorded statement on the contentious draft exemption bill for Tuesday evening at 8:10 PM, only to abruptly postpone it minutes before broadcast due to "scheduling constraints", a move that coincided with a meeting with Transportation Minister Miri Regev on the budget and the ongoing identification of hostage remains returned by Hamas terrorists. The planned address was set to unveil the controversial legislation, which has ignited a firestorm of public and political backlash, promising to integrate 50% of Haredi draft-age men into the IDF within five years, the first time Haredi leadership has agreed to such quotas. Sources close to Netanyahu told Walla that the statement would hail the bill as "historic," emphasizing its potential to end the long-standing exemption for ultra-Orthodox youth while balancing Torah study with national service. Earlier, United Torah Judaism MK Yossi Fox declared Netanyahu "determined to pass the law soon," underscoring coalition pressure amid threats of government collapse.

The cancellation drew immediate fire from opposition leaders, who seized the moment to lambast the bill as a sham designed to appease Haredi partners at the expense of overburdened reservists. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett delivered a blistering recorded statement, framing the legislation as a betrayal of the unity forged on October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists slaughtered 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped 251 in a dawn massacre that shattered the nation. "On October 7, Hamas terrorists launched a surprise attack, murdering, raping, and abducting over 1,400 Israelis. Their goal was not just physical harm, but to break our spirit. All state systems collapsed, but in those hours, the people of Israel revealed itself as a nation of lions. Israelis from across the land raced south into hell to save their brothers and sisters," Bennett began, honoring heroes like Elchanan Klemanzon, Noam and Yishai Slutzky, and countless others who fell defending the homeland.

Bennett warned of post-war realities: "With the war's end, we face years of heightened operational routine. The IDF is short 20,000 soldiers to defend Israel's borders. There are only two options: enlist our Haredi brothers to lend a hand, or burden our reservists with another 120 days annually, destroying their professional and family futures." He spotlighted 100,000 draft-eligible Haredi youth who could be trained in five months to fill the gap, insisting it's feasible with IDF backing, but slammed the government for the opposite. "The bill the government is advancing isn't a draft law, it's an Isra-bluff. It's filled with formulations and tricks meant to deceive you, the public, into thinking the goal is Haredi enlistment, but every component ensures no one enlists. For instance, it grants immediate amnesty to all current draft dodgers, a reward for deserters, and sets that any Haredi youth delaying until age 26 gets lifelong exemption. So obviously, everyone will do that."

Bennett decried the bill as "purely political," passed only because Haredi parties threaten to topple the coalition, and invoked Torah heroes like Joshua, Gideon, and King David as warriors, not yeshiva recluses. "We can unite as a nation only when we all serve as a nation. I call on every Israeli citizen to stand with IDF soldiers against this anti-Zionist law. Any MK who raises their hand for it will bear eternal shame. We don't lose hope, the people of Israel live!"

Opposition leader Yair Lapid echoed the outrage, accusing Netanyahu of fleeing the spotlight: "Bibi ran because he knows we know the bill's details, and he has no defense. It's a complete hoax. Control isn't with the IDF, but with Deri and Goldknopf. Netanyahu's escape tonight sends a clear message to coalition members: you can't defend this bill, and it won't pass. I commit, we'll stop it." Lapid blasted it as a "full draft exemption law" solely to resume funding yeshivas, costing 60 billion shekels annually from taxpayer pockets to those skipping induction. "This bill insults our fighters. It insults the 920+ soldiers killed, the 20,000 wounded in body and soul these past two years. It insults Zionism and the Israel Defense Forces."

The dust-up unfolds amid Netanyahu's ongoing corruption trial, postponed that morning due to "urgent national security matters," and fresh Hamas-delivered remains for identification at the Forensic Medicine Institute. With reservists logging 120+ days yearly amid the war's toll, 700 IDF dead, endless Gaza rotations, the bill's flaws (no quotas, no sanctions, Haredi veto power) risk fracturing national unity just as terrorists regroup. Critics like Bennett and Lapid demand real enlistment, not political theater, to honor the fallen and fortify Israel against threats from Iran-backed proxies.