Israel Parliament's winter session begins today, to feature talks on state budget, Haredi enlistment and more

The Knesset was on a three-month recess, their second since the beginning of the war on October 7, 2023.

Israel's Parliament, also known as Knesset, is set to begin its winter session today and one of the main issues that the ruling coalition faces is passage of the state budget.

Although, lawmakers will be forced to listen to the Opposition as coalition’s ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party is set to block the passage of the spending bill until the Knesset paves the way for exemption of Haredi men from getting drafted in military mandatorily.

The Knesset was on a three-month recess, their second since the beginning of the war on October 7, 2023.

In June, Israel's High Court ruled that there is no legal basis for the decades-long practice of exempting Haredi men from the military draft.

A bill that seeks to regulate this is currently stuck in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, whose chairman has said that it will only pass if lawmakers can reach a “broad consensus” on the matter, reported Times of Israel.

Yesh Atid MK Vladimir Beliak, who is spearheading the Yesh Atid party’s criticism of the proposed state budget, said that he does not believe that the ultra-Orthodox will end up opposing the budget, the report added.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich have said they intend to pass the budget by the end of the year. If the Budget is not passed by March 31, it will result in the dissolution of the government and early elections.