Haredi conscription and equality of service

What changed

In Statement A (August 2024), Lapid expresses optimism that economic sanctions in the new draft law will work, drawing a parallel to 2013 when he claims Haredi enlistment numbers grew once economic consequences kicked in. In Statement B (November 2025), he frames the same law (or its successor) as an 'evasion law' (חוק ההשתמטות) that effectively delivers money to the Haredim immediately while deferring any real conscription discussion by a year and a half — implying the sanctions mechanism he praised has failed or been circumvented. The two statements describe the same legislative framework and its expected versus actual effect on Haredi conscription in contradictory terms: one predicts growing enlistment driven by economic pressure, the other asserts the money flows with no real enforcement.