Netanyahu's coalition on brink as ultra-Orthodox demand draft exemptions

Israeli senior religious officials have called on Haredi parties to take steps to topple Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and dissolve the Knesset, due to the failure to pass a law that would exempt ultra-Orthodox Jews from compulsory military service.

Coalition leaders under Netanyahu failed to reach a compromise on legislation that would exempt the ultra-Orthodox community from mandatory army service on Wednesday evening.

Tensions came to a peak following the meeting, triggering opposition parties led by Yesh Atid, Yisrael Beiteinu, and the Democratic Union to announce that they would introduce a law that would dissolve the Knesset next week.

Some reports in Hebrew media, however, state that Netanyahu still has some leverage to save his government, which would include the dismissal of senior lawmaker Yuli Edelstein, a prominent opponent to the law exempting Haredi citizens from compulsory military service.

Party sources told Israeli media that the leader of the Lithuanian-Haredi community has instructed Degel HaTorah, which is part of the United Torah Judaism faction, to also support a motion that could collapse the government and lead to new elections.

"The night was difficult, and a decision was made by senior religious leaders that we will head to elections," an official from the Degel HaTorah party told Israeli media following negotiations.

If the United Torah Judaism coalition proposes a bill to dissolve the Knesset, or decides to withdraw from the coalition, it would make it difficult for the members of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party not to join in, reports in Israeli media state.

The latest developments come after senior United Torah Judaism officials last month started adopting a more hardline line over the delay in draft exemption legislation.

They further said that as an initial step, they would boycott votes on private bills submitted by coalition parties, leading to the withdrawal of several of them.

The issue came to a head last year, when the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the state could no longer exempt Haredim from military conscription. Since then, the Israeli army has sent out around 20,000 draft summonses to Haredim, but only a few hundred have complied.

The army has also issued over 2,000 arrest warrants, despite there being no enforcement.

The deadlock comes amid Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza and emerging reports of the number of reserve soldiers dropping.

Draft exemptions

Draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jews date back to the early days of the creation of the state of Israel, when the first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, exempted about 400 students from military service so they could devote themselves to religious study.

The decision was an attempt by Ben-Gurion to keep alive sacred knowledge and traditions almost wiped out in the Holocaust.

At the time, the Haredis were a tiny minority, but the exemptions have become an increasing problem as the community has expanded to make up more than 13 percent of Israel's population, a proportion expected to reach around a third within 40 years due to a high birth rate.