Deputy Minister of Health, Yaakov Litzman, addressed the coalition negotiations this morning (Thursday) in an interview given by Yaron Dekel and Amit Segal on Kan Reshet B - and reiterated the threat that United Torah Judaism will oppose the conscription law in its current form, and this will be a condition for their entry into the government.
"I am against the law," Litzman said. "I will not enter a coalition when this is the law. I voted against it and said that if it passes in three readings, I will resign from the government."
He added: "I want to remind you that all of these things were on the table before the elections. It sometimes happens that people think and do not correctly translate what we said. This can certainly happen. But there are things I can tell you – the conscription law will not come according to the current law. The prime minister will have to solve the problems. I can only say one thing – we gave an order not to close the election headquarters."
The Deputy Minister of Health rejected claims of an acute crisis in the health system: "The functioning of the health system is among the best in the world. The overload in hospitals certainly exists, I will not deny that. But we have improved it. A year ago, two years ago it was much worse."
Litzman responded to the issue of infrastructure work on Shabbat, in response to a question about the construction of the Jewish Bridge in Tel Aviv - and said: "During the election campaign, we couldn't do anything, you're talking to walls. But we definitely won't put that on the agenda. The issue of Shabbat is definitely important. We will be careful about it and we will reach detailed agreements on exactly what to do on Shabbat. We will not agree to work on bridges on Shabbat."
Litzman announced that United Torah Judaism and Shas will coordinate their demands during the negotiations.
Litzman said his party would likely support the French law, which would allow the prime minister to maintain his immunity in the event of an indictment. "I didn't go all the way to the end of the bill. Usually, United Torah Judaism, whatever the coalition proposes, we go with. We don't like everything, but we support it."
Minister Gilad Erdan said this morning that the conditions placed by Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman regarding the conscription law are useless. "No law is sacred. Lieberman's statements about the conscription law are unnecessary," Erdan said in an interview with Galei Tzahal.
MK Moshe Gafni said in an interview with Galei Tzahal that in his opinion the need for mandatory conscription into the IDF should be abolished.
"It's not certain that in the current state of threats, of sophisticated missiles, there is a need for mandatory conscription. To deal with the challenges, a different concept is needed, I hear that from security personnel."
Gafni also said about the conscription law: "Lieberman has 5 seats, but we have 22. This law does not belong to the defense establishment, and we will demand a normal law immediately after the government is formed. If necessary, we will go to the elections again."
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