The Knesset on July 2 approved the first reading of a bill for drafting ultra-Orthodox men to serve in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The vote was 63-39. At the request of the opposition, the vote was presented as a no-confidence measure, with the possible, but unlikely, outcome of toppling the governing coalition if it failed to pass.
It is still too early to know whether, in the long run, Yesh Atid Chair Yair Lapid’s decision to support the coalition’s Conscription Law was a successful political gamble. What can be said is that in the short term at least, Lapid has come away unscathed by the opposition party’s accusations that he saved the Netanyahu government and surrendered to the ultra-Orthodox by abandoning the most important banner issue on his agenda — conscription of the ultra-Orthodox.
