Latest news with #coalitionCrisis
Globe and Mail
7 days ago
- Politics
- Globe and Mail
Israeli ultra-Orthodox party leaves government over conscription bill
One of Israel's ultra-Orthodox parties, United Torah Judaism, said it was quitting 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 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.' 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. Ministers from Israel's Likud party push Netanyahu to annex West Bank as he prepares to meet Trump A spokesperson for Goldknopf confirmed that in all, seven UTJ 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 defence 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.
Bloomberg
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Netanyahu's Coalition Shrinks After Ultra-Orthodox Party Quits
An Israeli ultra-Orthodox party said it's walking out of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition, threatening to leave the government with a razor-thin majority in parliament. The United Torah Judaism party announced late on Monday it would quit in protest at a bill seeking to curtail the exemptions from military draft, long enjoyed by ultra-Orthodox Jews on religious grounds. Without the party's seven lawmakers — whose departure comes into force on Wednesday — Netanyahu will wield just 61 of the 120 seats in parliament, making him vulnerable to no-confidence motions.
