Latest news with #YitzhakGoldknopf
Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Israeli ultra-Orthodox party quits Netanyahu government over conscription
Israel's ultra-Orthodox party, United Torah Judaism (UTJ), has announced it is quitting the country's fractious right-wing coalition due to a long-running dispute over mandatory military service, threatening Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hold on power. Six of the remaining seven members of UTJ, which is comprised of the Degel HaTorah and Agudat Yisrael factions, wrote letters of resignation, Israeli media reported late on Monday. UTJ chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf had resigned a month ago. A spokesperson for Goldknopf confirmed that, in all, seven UTJ Knesset members are leaving the government. Degel HaTorah was quoted by news reports as saying the decision was made 'in accordance with the directive' of the group's spiritual leader, Rabbi Dov Lando. Degel Hatorah said in a statement that after conferring with its head rabbis, 'and following repeated violations by the government of its commitments to ensure the status of holy yeshiva students who diligently engage in their studies … [its MKs] have announced their resignation from the coalition and the government'. The decision would leave Netanyahu with a razor-thin majority of 61 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, or parliament. It was not clear whether Shas, another ultra-Orthodox party, would follow suit. Ultra-Orthodox lawmakers have long threatened to leave the coalition over the conscription bill. They argue that a bill to exempt 'yeshiva' or seminary students from conscription was a key promise in their agreement to join Netanyahu's coalition in late 2022. In June, on the eve of Israel's war with Iran, the coalition barely survived after governing lawmakers reached a deal with ultra-Orthodox parties regarding exemptions to the mandatory military service. The ultra-Orthodox have long been exempt from military service, which applies to most other young Israelis. But last year, the Supreme Court ordered the Ministry of Defense to end that practice and start conscripting seminary students. Netanyahu had been pushing hard to resolve the deadlock over the new military conscription bill, which has led to the present crisis. He is under pressure from his own Likud party to draft more ultra-Orthodox men and impose penalties on dodgers, a red line for the Shas party, which demands a law guaranteeing its members' permanent exemption from military service. Netanyahu's coalition, formed in December 2022, is one of the most far-right governments in the country's history.
Khaberni
2 days ago
- Politics
- Khaberni
Israeli United Torah Judaism Party Withdraws from Netanyahu's Government
Khaberni -The United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party, a religiously conservative faction in Israel, announced that it will withdraw from the ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu due to a long-standing dispute regarding the lack of drafting a law to exempt religious school students from military service. Six of the remaining seven members of United Torah Judaism, comprising the Degel HaTorah and Agudat Yisrael factions, wrote resignation letters. Yitzhak Goldknopf, the leader of UTJ, had resigned a month earlier. This move will leave Netanyahu with a very slim majority of 61 seats in the 120-seat Knesset. It remains unclear whether Shas, another religiously conservative party, will follow suit. The Degel HaTorah faction stated in a press release that after consulting with its principal rabbis and "after repeated violations by the government of its commitments to ensure the sacred status of Jewish religious school students who engage earnestly in their studies... (Knesset members) announced their resignation from the coalition and government." The religiously conservative parties claim that drafting a law to exempt religious school students from military service was a key promise when they agreed to join the coalition in late 2022.
Al Arabiya
2 days ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Israeli ultra-Orthodox party leaves Netanyahu's government over conscription bill
One of Israel's ultra-Orthodox parties, United Torah Judaism, said it was quitting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling coalition due to a long-running dispute over failure to draft a bill to exempt yeshiva students from military service. Six of the remaining seven members of United Torah Judaism, which is comprised of the Degel HaTorah and Agudat Yisrael factions, wrote letters of resignation. Yitzhak Goldknopf, chairman of United Torah Judaism, had resigned a month ago. That would leave Netanyahu with a razor-thin majority of 61 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, or parliament. It was not clear whether Shas, another ultra-Orthodox party, would follow suit. Degel HaTorah said in a statement that after conferring with its head rabbis, 'and following repeated violations by the government to its commitments to ensure the status of holy yeshiva students who diligently engage in their studies... (its MKs) have announced their resignation from the coalition and the government.' Ultra-Orthodox parties have argued that a bill to exempt yeshiva students was a key promise in their agreement to join the coalition in late 2022. A spokesperson for Goldknopf confirmed that in all, seven United Torah Judaism Knesset members are leaving the government. Ultra-Orthodox lawmakers have long threatened to leave the coalition over the conscription bill. Some religious parties in Netanyahu's coalition are seeking exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students from military service that is mandatory in Israel, while other lawmakers want to scrap any such exemptions altogether. The ultra-Orthodox have long been exempt from military service, which applies to most other young Israelis, but last year the Supreme Court ordered the defense ministry to end that practice and start conscripting seminary students. Netanyahu had been pushing hard to resolve a deadlock in his coalition over a new military conscription bill, which has led to the present crisis. The exemption, in place for decades and which over the years has spared an increasingly large number of people, has become a heated topic in Israel with the military still embroiled in a war in Gaza.
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Israeli ultra-Orthodox party leaves Netanyahu's government over conscription bill
One of Israel's ultra-Orthodox parties, United Torah Judaism, said it was quitting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling coalition due to a long-running dispute over failure to draft a bill to exempt yeshiva students from military service. Advertisement Six of the remaining seven members of UTJ, which is comprised of the Degel Hatorah and Agudat Yisrael factions, wrote letters of resignation. Yitzhak Goldknopf, chairman of UTJ, had resigned a month ago. That would leave Netanyahu with a razor thin majority of 61 seats in the 120 seat Knesset, or parliament. It was not clear whether Shas, another ultra-Orthodox party, would follow suit. Degel Hatorah said in a statement that after conferring with its head rabbis, 'and following repeated violations by the government to its commitments to ensure the status of holy yeshiva students who diligently engage in their studies ... (its MKs) have announced their resignation from the coalition and the government'. Advertisement Ultra-Orthodox parties have argued that a bill to exempt yeshiva students was a key promise in their agreement to join the coalition in late 2022.
