Netanyahu arrives from Maccabiah ceremony to help secure 61-vote majority for Haredi-backed bill, part of wider political deal with Likud over draft, kosher supervision and October 7 inquiry issues

Critics say the bill could preserve state benefits for yeshiva students who avoid military service amid the IDF’s manpower shortage.

The bill originally equated study of the Jewish Torah with military service, which could be used to justify ultra-Orthodox men's exclusion from mandatory enlistment. The relevant…