Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is at the brink of collapse, following the withdrawal last night of the United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party. Today, Aryeh Deri’s Shas party announced that they were seriously considering joining with UTJ in leaving Netanyahu’s coalition. It said that “following the serious and unacceptable harm to the status of Torah scholars” brought about by the current government, its ruling Council of Torah Sages would meet on July 16 for “a crucial discussion regarding [the party’s] continued path in the government.”
For years, the two parties have defended the historic exemption from military service for the ultra-Orthodox religious students. Netanyahu’s prolonged war in Gaza and his willingness to expand the fighting elsewhere has put strains on Israel’s military, along with pressure to restrict the exemptions. The last time the two parties threatened to disrupt the coalition was in June, when Netanyahu’s promises to provide them a softened version of the proposed conscription bill. Then they backed down and the next day Netanyahu launched his surprise attack on Iran.
Now the two parties find Netanyahu’s promise to not be worth much of anything. His coalition has 69 of the 120 Knesset seats. UTJ’s 7 seats are gone, so if Shas makes good on its threat, Netanyahu will have only 50 seats; he would have to connive and delay to avoid an imminent election.
After today’s threat by Shas, Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Yuli Edelstein called on the coalition’s ultra-Orthodox members not to bring down the government over its terms. He attacked them, stating that “the representatives of the Haredi factions in the Knesset are rejecting the outline of the law that I have formulated.”
The Times of Israel](https://www.timesofisrael.com/edelstein-stands-ground-on-draft-dodger-sanctions-as-shas-set-to-depart-coalition/) cites “media reports” that Shas “is expected to follow United Torah Judaism’s lead and exit the coalition on Thursday,” July 17, though they “have not indicated that they intend to topple the government and trigger elections.” Instead, the Knesset is likely to head into its three-month summer recess on July 27 with a minority coalition, giving Netanyahu time to try to reach an agreement on the enlistment issue.
Edelstein apparently has forced the showdown, insisting that he would “only pass a good law that would meet the needs of the IDF and significantly ease the burden on reservists and the serving public.” He cited his success in working with Netanyahu in June “to prevent the dissolution of the Knesset,” so that the assault on Iran could commence. He said of the hours before they launched the June attack: “That evening, some of the clauses were agreed on, but it was clear to everyone that the drafting work was not finished then.”
In last night’s meeting with Netanyahu and the representatives of the two parties, Edelstein warned them that “the public will not forgive those who fail to rise to the occasion and unite for one common goal—the security and future of the State of Israel.” Today, responding to Edelstein’s remarks, the Times of Israel wrote: “Shas and UTJ released a joint statement blaming him for the crisis over the conscription law, and accusing him of sabotaging talks and deceiving the public.” The statement said, “For a year and a half now, he has been misleading the negotiating teams, the rabbis, the reserve personnel, the military and security officials, and everyone who has acted honestly to bring about a balanced and respectful settlement on the issue. He continues to mislead about the ‘compromise outline’ he formulated, but in practice, he has repeatedly sabotaged every possible outline…. It is no coincidence that he refuses to reveal the text of the law he supposedly agreed to — because he knows that this will expose his series of violations and deceptions.”
