Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon to drop his objections to the personal sanctions article in the proposed reforms to ultra-Orthodox military enlistment, in an attempt to bring the emerging coalition crisis to an end. "The differences are not that big. We will discuss the issue further and the bill will pass," Netanyahu said. Sources close to Ya'alon said that while the prime minister was able to convince Ya'alon not to vote against the reform as a whole, the defense minister was adamant that he would not vote in favor of the article stating that haredi draft dodgers would immediately be classified as deserters. Coalition tensions rose after a disagreement between Ya'alon (Likud) and Finance Minister Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) over some of the sanctions proposed against haredi draft dodgers. The Peri committee for equalizing the burden, which presented its report to the government on Sunday, recommended that all haredi youths of eligible age be drafted into the Israel Defense Forces or perform national service, with only 1,800 yeshiva students who meet the criteria as "exceptional religious scholars" to be exempted from every intake. The committee stipulated that authorities would be able to take criminal action and impose financial sanctions against haredi draft dodgers. This article proved to be the biggest bone of contention between the ministers during Sunday's cabinet meeting, as Ya'alon and Lapid -- whose party is promoting the reform as part of its coalition agreement -- clashed over who would have the final say on the nature of the sanctions. Lapid demanded that haredi draft dodgers face the same criminal actions that the IDF imposes on all those who try to avoid the draft, but Ya'alon opposed the move, as did Housing Minister Uri Ariel (Habayit Hayehudi) and other Likud and Yisrael Beytenu ministers. Sunday's meeting on the reform eventually deadlocked, prompting Yesh Atid to warn Monday that a crisis over the enlistment reform had the potential to topple the government. Legal counsels from Yesh Atid and the Likud-Beytenu factions were expected to meet on Tuesday to try to resolve the various issues. Both Netanyahu and Yisrael Beytenu Chairman MK Avigdor Lieberman urged the ministers to adhere to the original coalition agreement, which calls for haredi draft dodgers to face financial sanctions, and avert a political crisis that could destabilize the government. Netanyahu stressed Monday that the draft reform, which has already met fierce opposition by haredi Knesset members and ultra-Orthodox community leaders, was essential to the Israeli economy as well as to the fabric of Israeli society, saying the issue was "too important to be watered down by political spins." "By the time the law is implemented on the ground we will see many headlines and many crises, real and fictional alike," the prime minister told the Likud faction on Monday. He said he would not allow Lapid to create a bogus coalition crisis, and that he supported the haredi draft reform. "Lapid has torpedoed a compromise and cooked up a political crisis," Ya'alon told close associates on Monday. Others in the Likud party also said it appeared as if the finance minister's move was an attempt to leverage the reform as another great achievement for his party and himself, following his pushing through the controversial state budget. Likud sources said Netanyahu's decision to nip the brewing crisis in the bud stemmed from the understanding that the Ministerial Committee on Legislation, which stands to finalize the bill prior to the Knesset's voting on it, would apply considerable changes to its current outline. Meanwhile, Lapid has canceled his appearance before the Knesset's Finance Committee, which had been scheduled for noon Tuesday. Sources in Lapid's office told Israel Hayom that the minister's appearance "was postponed, as were all of the minister's meetings since yesterday, over the coalition crisis involving the draft reform. " Lapid was scheduled to present the committee with the Finance Ministry's recommendations on amendments to betterment and property taxes. He is also in the process of finalizing a list of potential candidates to replace Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer, whose term in office ends in June. Sources in Yesh Atid said Lapid, who was scheduled to leave for Paris on Tuesday evening to attend an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development meeting, has canceled his trip over the coalition crisis. "Some people just dont understand that you cannot change a reality that has been in place for 65 years at one fell swoop or by threatening entire sectors in society," Ya'alon said Tuesday. "The previous government chose to pursue ways that would encourage the [haredi] sector to cooperate. Once you threaten yeshiva students with jail you reverse the process. "I hope we can overcome the political dispute that has manifested. The [reform] is subject to negotiations and I think the final bill will be different, because the current draft is unacceptable as far as I'm concerned. I hope the bill's future wording will enable us to avoid any more coalition crises." 'Yesh Atid won't back down' Earlier Monday, Lapid, speaking at the Yesh Atid faction meeting, stated, "We will enact burden equality or this government will fall. From the very first moment, Yesh Atid has taken it upon itself to be the stable, responsible party in this government, as seen by the budget and by other Knesset votes. I have assumed all the tough, unpleasant parts of sitting in the coalition and if anyone thinks I entered politics just to solve the economic catastrophe created by the previous government than they just don't understand what we are trying to do." Yesh Atid, he stressed, "has no intention of backing down on burden equality. Anyone who thinks otherwise doesn't know us. I strongly suggest no one gets confused just because I'm a responsible finance minister. Any attempt to gain the favor of haredi politicians or torpedo the Peri committee will bring about the end of this coalition." Habayit Hayehudi Chairman MK Naftali Bennett assumed the role of mediator Monday, trying to defuse the tensions between Lapid and Ya'alon. "No one wants to see the military police raid entire neighborhoods in Bnei Brak," he said, referring to the largest ultra-Orthodox city in central Israel. "We have to come up with a system of incentives that would integrate the haredi community in Israeli society." Hatnuah Chairwoman Tzipi Livni criticized Lapid, saying, "It's hard for me to understand how someone who is so passionate about enacting burden equality and threatens everyone with criminal sanctions over it, can champion cutting short the hesder yeshivot soldiers' service in the same breath." Opposition Leader MK Shelly Yachimovich (Labor) also slammed Lapid, saying he was "collaborating with the radical elements within the haredi community, those who stay silent. The result will be fewer haredi recruits and more media headlines. We will seek other solutions." She did not elaborate on what initiatives her party might promote. Labor faction Chairman MK Isaac Herzog said, "This has become a cynical battle of principles that has nothing to do with the goal at hand." Kadima Chairman Shaul Mofaz, on the other hand, said Yesh Atid's MKs "should not be pushovers. Don't give up on the principles that guided you in your decision to join Netanyahu's government." Mofaz criticized Ya'alon, saying that his decision to vote against the criminal sanctions article in the reform "is impeding the bill and is detrimental to the IDF's efforts to fight draft dodging. His conduct reeks of bad politics." The campaign for burden equality issued a statement Monday saying that the Peri committee should be dismantled: "As things stand now, not only will the Peri committee fail to promote burden equality, it will cause damage what would take years to repair." Rabbi Uri Regev, who chairs the Hiddush organization, which advocates for freedom of religion, warned that should the draft reform fail, "it would inflict untold damage on the public's faith in the political system and in Yesh Atid. The only way to achieve burden equality is to immediately enact binding recruitment quotas."
