The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee passed an extension of an emergency military call-up order by an 8 to 7 vote on Monday, a week after the measure was put on the backburner due to the coalition being unable to muster a majority, a Knesset spokesperson said.

The order, replacing one that expired in May, allows the army to draft up to 430,000 reservists as it seeks to expand fighting in Gaza, though far fewer are expected to be called up. The order expires on September 4, unlike previous orders, which were good for several months at a time.

According to the Walla news site, the vote took place at the Defense Ministry’s Tel Aviv headquarters rather than in the Knesset, which is in its summer recess. The building itself is closed for the last two weeks of August.

The government had planned to bring the measure for a committee vote last week but was forced to call it off due to the absence of New Hope MK Mishel Buskila and the committee’s former chair, Likud MK Yuli Edelstein, who was ousted in July for refusing to pass a draft exemption order for yeshiva students.

During Monday’s vote, Edelstein was absent again and his seat was filled by Likud MK Tally Gotliv, who presumably voted with the........

© The Times of Israel