Israel’s charedi Shas and United Torah Judaism parties are refusing to set foot in the Knesset chamber to vote with their coalition partners until they receive a new draft of the hotly contested conscription bill, Channel 12 reported. The standoff marks a sharp escalation in tensions over the government’s efforts to draft thousands of charedi men into the IDF. United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Roth confirmed to Radio Kol Barama that his party is already boycotting private member bills sponsored by coalition MKs to protest delays in moving the legislation forward. The controversial bill — shelved temporarily during the 12-day war with Iran — is now back in the spotlight. Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein is expected to unveil a new version in the coming days. Kan reported that the draft legislation envisions conscripting more than 4,800 charedim in the first year alone. An earlier, unreleased version included a battery of severe penalties for draft dodgers: stripping property tax discounts, canceling public transport subsidies, removing housing lottery eligibility, slashing daycare and academic support, and revoking tax breaks for working women married to men who avoid military service. Facing charedi threats to support a bill to dissolve the Knesset, Edelstein — a veteran Likud heavyweight — appeared to soften some of these punitive measures last month in a last-ditch bid to keep the coalition intact. Those efforts were quickly overtaken by Israel’s dramatic airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, which triggered nearly two weeks of fighting and put any draft reform talks on hold. Both Edelstein and Shas leader Aryeh Deri were briefed on the pending strikes before they occurred — knowledge that reportedly made them more willing to compromise on the divisive enlistment plan. With the war now over, the fragile coalition faces renewed pressure as the charedi parties dig in their heels, vowing to block the Knesset’s legislative agenda until their demands on the draft are addressed. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)