Haredi Leaders Block Attorney General Reform Without Draft Laws

MK Gafni (Photo: Yonatan Sindel / Flash90)

The ultimatum follows a dramatic closed-door meeting earlier this week between Netanyahu and the leaders of the two major Haredi parties, Shas chairman Aryeh Deri and United Torah Judaism's Moshe Gafni. According to sources familiar with the session, the Haredi leaders demanded immediate advancement of legislation protecting Torah scholars from military service, coupled with an explicit commitment from Netanyahu to secure the votes needed for passage in the Knesset plenum.

During that confrontation, Deri and Gafni reportedly threatened to force immediate dissolution of the Knesset if the Prime Minister failed to deliver on the Haredi legislative agenda. The threat carries particular weight given the coalition's narrow majority and Netanyahu's dependence on ultra-Orthodox support for his political survival.

The Legislative Deadline

The timing of the Haredi ultimatum is critical. If the coalition intends to advance the arrest-halt legislation, designed to prevent the detention of yeshiva students who fail to report for military service, the bill's text must be distributed to Knesset members by Thursday evening. As of midday Thursday, no such distribution had occurred, raising questions about whether the government intends to move forward with the legislation at all.

Senior figures in Israel's Haredi coalition factions delivered a blunt ultimatum to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Thursday: despite their principled opposition to the current Attorney General, they will not support legislation splitting the AG's role unless the government first advances two critical pieces of Haredi legislation.

"Despite our principled position on the issue of legal counsel to the government, we will not support splitting the Attorney General's role if we don't receive clear compensation, passage of the Torah Study Basic Law and the arrest-halt law," senior coalition sources stated Thursday afternoon.

Netanyahu removes controversial section from the Law (Photo: Yonatan Sindel / Flash90)

The Attorney General reform proposal, which would split the current AG's dual role as both government legal adviser and chief prosecutor, has been a long-standing demand of right-wing coalition members who view the current system as giving unelected officials excessive power to block government policy. Haredi parties have generally supported such reforms as part of broader judicial overhaul efforts.

But Thursday's ultimatum signals that ideological alignment on legal reform takes a back seat to concrete legislative achievements on core Haredi interests. The message to Netanyahu is clear: no votes on his priorities without delivery on theirs.