Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Saturday that he will present a universal national service law to the Knesset in ten day’s time. The law is to replace the Tal Law that regulated the exemption from service for hareidi yeshiva students.

Lieberman threatened that his party would leave the coalition over the matter of the Tal Law. “We are a responsible party,” he said. “We did everything to preserve the coalition. The best date for elections is the original date, but we are not hostages.”

“In ten days we will bring an alternative to the Tal Law to the Knesset and then we will assess where we are going and when. We are going to vote on conscription for everyone. That means hareidim too, minorities as well – and we will not let anyone talk us out of it. If they do not compromise with us, we will go to a decision. I hope that the hareidi parties accept it.”

The High Court struck down the Tal Law in February, in one of former Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch’s last rulings. 

Members of the Kadima party, too, have adopted the issue of the Tal Law as an election plank.