A key governing partner of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that its seven parliament members would be quitting the coalition government on Tuesday, threatening to destabilise the Israeli leader's rule at a critical point in the war in Gaza.
United Torah Judaism, an ultra-Orthodox party, said that it would leave the coalition over disagreements surrounding a bill that would codify broad military draft exemptions for their constituents, many of whom study Jewish texts instead of enlisting to the military.
"After the government repeatedly violated its commitments to ensure the status of Jewish seminary students," the party's Degel HaTorah faction said in a statement, its lawmakers announced "their resignation from the coalition and the government".
A decades-old arrangement allowed tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews to avoid the country's compulsory military service and study religious texts instead.
The party wants the government to pass a law that would formalise exemptions from military service for its constituents — a deeply divisive issue between secular and religious Jews, especially since the war in Gaza has increased demands on military manpower.
After years of legal battles, the country’s High Court last year ruled unanimously that the military must begin drafting ultra-Orthodox men for compulsory service. The military has since attempted to increase call ups for ultra-Orthodox men, to little success.
While the departure of United Torah Judaism doesn't immediately impact Netanyahu's rule, the Israeli leader now has a slim one-seat majority in parliament.
It leaves open the possibility that the second, larger ultra-Orthodox party, Shas, which has 11 seats, could follow suit, a move that would wipe out the prime minister's majority.
The Knesset is now also more reliant on two far-right parties that comprise the coalition. Both oppose concessions in ceasefire negotiations with Hamas and have themselves quit or threatened to quit the government over moves to end the war in Gaza.
United Torah Judaism's departure has a window of 48 hours before becoming official, meaning Netanyahu can still find ways to satisfy the party and bring it back into the coalition.
But Shuki Friedman, vice president of the Jewish People Policy Institute, said the gaps between the draft law currently on the table and the demands of the party are still wide, making a compromise unlikely during that time.AC
Cabinet Minister Miki Zohar, from Netanyahu's Likud party, said he was hopeful the party could be coaxed back to the coalition. “God willing, everything will be fine,” he said.
The political shakeup comes as Israel and Hamas are holding indirect talks over the terms of a truce in the 21-month war in Gaza.
Despite heavy pressure from the US to agree to a deal, and mediations by Egypt and Qatar, no breakthrough in talks has been made.
