Israel’s parliament narrowly rejected a preliminary bill to dissolve itself early on 12 June, avoiding the possibility of snap elections and preserving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fragile governing coalition. The motion, backed by opposition lawmakers, was defeated by a vote of 61 to 53 – just meeting the 61-seat threshold needed for passage in the 120-member Knesset.
The failed vote followed a last-minute deal between coalition leaders and ultra-Orthodox parties regarding one of Israel’s most divisive issues, which is mandatory military service for the ultra-Orthodox, or Haredim.
While military service is compulsory for most Jewish Israelis, the ultra-Orthodox community – roughly 13 percent of the population – has long been granted exemptions if men are enrolled in full-time religious study.
Ultra-orthodox parties have been pressuring the Netanyahu government to codify the exemptions by passing a new law.
In a key development, Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Yuli Edelstein announced that his committee and ultra-Orthodox parties had reached a preliminary understanding to draft new legislation addressing the conscription issue. This agreement persuaded most ultra-Orthodox lawmakers to vote against dissolving the Knesset.
However, the arrangement sparked backlash from both opposition leaders and within the coalition itself.
Yair Golan, leader of the opposition Democrats party, condemned the agreement, saying, “Netanyahu entered a room with the heads of the Haredi factions and left with a disgraceful agreement … There is no love for the country here. Only cynicism. Only selfish survival.” Golan accused Netanyahu of betraying both military service members and ultra-Orthodox citizens who wished to contribute to the state.
Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf, head of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party, resigned from Netanyahu’s cabinet in protest over the compromise deal. Goldknopf, whose Hasidic Agudat Yisrael faction supported the Knesset’s dissolution, said the new understandings fell short of promises made in coalition agreements. “I can no longer take part as a member of this government,” he wrote in his resignation letter to Netanyahu.
Goldknopf’s resignation follows a previous symbolic resignation in March over the same issue. Despite his departure, UTJ remains part of the ruling coalition, which has been under pressure due to widespread discontent over the military burden placed on young Israelis tasked with executing the ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. With the war now lasting more than 18 months, the Israeli army is facing growing manpower shortages, intensifying the debate over draft exemptions.
Roughly 13,000 ultra-Orthodox men reach conscription age each year, but fewer than 10 percent enlist, according to the State Control Committee.
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