Giyus Draft Law Version Revealed

 Summary of the Draft “Giyus Law” by MK Boaz Bismuth

The new draft of the Charedi enlistment law introduces a graduated system of personal sanctions for anyone who receives a draft order and fails to appear.

A senior Agudas Yisroel party  criticized the newly revealed draft as nonsense.” The law imposes sanctions on yeshiva students and sets unrealistic enlistment targets. It doesn’t even have the attorney general’s approval and will end up being canceled within three years. So what will we have accomplished? They want us to lend our support to a bad law, only for an even worse one to replace it in a few years. Netanyahu must fulfill his commitment and present the version he promised us.”

Backlash Across the Political Spectrum

Criticism of the bill was not limited to the chareidi parties. Likud MK Yuli Edelstein,  I don’t have the talent to invent a draft-dodging scam in the middle of a war for our survival while our reservists are collapsing.”

Opposition leader Yair Lapid  criticized it as well “This isn’t a draft law it’s a disgraceful draft-dodging law in full. If this draft moves forward, not one chareidi will enlist. It’s a slap in the face to soldiers, families.

Key Points of the Proposal:

According to the outline formulated by MK Boaz Bismuth, the goals will be up to 50% conscription within five years

Sanctions on draft evaders:

Immediate loss of state benefits.

Ban on obtaining a driver’s license until age 23 (an age when many yeshiva students are already married).

Travel ban  cannot leave Israel until age 26.

Loss of eligibility for scholarships, government jobs, housing discounts, and subsidized apartments if recruitment targets are not met.

The driving restriction will apply only to new evaders  existing license holders will not lose theirs to avoid retroactive punishment.

service in rescue and emergency organizations will count toward annual targets.

Definition of “Charedi”:

Anyone who studied in a yeshiva for at least two years will be classified as Charedi for the purposes of the law — including those who left yeshiva but remain identified with the community.

Recruitment targets:

Year 1 – 4,800 recruits

Year 2 – 5,760 recruits

Year 3 – 6,840 recruits

Year 4 – 7,920 recruits

By Year 5, the goal is to recruit half of each Charedi age cohort.

The Knesset legal adviser, Adv. Miri Frenkel-Shor, suggested raising the first-year target to 5,760, arguing that the 4,800 figure was outdated.

 

No combat quotas:

The law removes the specific requirement for a number of combat soldiers. The IDF said it cannot control combat placements, so that demand was dropped.

Expanded definition of “civil service”:

Oversight Committee:

The IDF Chief of Staff will establish a committee to oversee implementation.

Members will include:

A retired rabbinical court judge

A former Chief Military Rabbi

A representative from the IDF’s Human Resources Division

Two additional officers appointed by the Chief of Staff

The committee will monitor whether the IDF is creating suitable service tracks for Charedim and meeting enlistment goals.

Biometric enforcement rejected:

There will be no use of biometric fingerprinting for enforcement.

Procedural Notes:

The public discussion of the law was postponed to next week, officially at the request of Prime Minister Netanyahu, who wants to review the draft  and also due to requests from Charedi parties not to hold the session at the same time as the planned “Million-Man Atzeres” protest in Yerushalayim  this Thursday.