Netanyahu’s government on the brink as party quits coalition

JERUSALEM (Agencies): Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing majority is hanging in the balance after an ultra-Orthodox party quit his ruling coalition in protest of a new military conscription Bill.

United Torah Judaism (UTC), one of six parties in the volatile Right-wing alliance, withdrew its support for Mr Netanyahu on Monday night, leaving the ruling coalition with a one-seat majority in the Knesset, or parliament.

A second, larger ultra-Orthodox party, Shas, which traditionally kept in lockstep with UTC, may soon follow suit. If it pulls support provided by its 11 seats, Mr Netanyahu’s parliamentary majority will be wiped out.

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.

But in June, Israel’s supreme court ruled that ultra-Orthodox Jews must be conscripted into the army after growing pressure from the military for more manpower amid the ongoing war in Gaza.

The debate pits Mr Netanyahu against the hard-Right religious positions in his coalition and the majority of the population that is calling for reform after sending its sons and daughters to war.

Three Israeli soldiers were killed in northern Gaza on Monday, adding to the mounting Israeli military casualty count in recent weeks as the war grinds on in the battered enclave.

Israel’s longest-serving prime minister is already battling for his political survival. He is trailing in polls and facing growing calls to resign, while reports suggest he is trying to stall ceasefire negotiations that could see the return of the remaining hostages.

The end of his fracturing coalition would probably trigger early elections, which polling suggests Mr Netanyahu would lose.

Despite the crisis, analysts say it is too soon to tell whether it could spell the end of the government, even if both ultra-Orthodox parties leave the coalition. There is still a possibility that Mr Netanyahu could seek a compromise.

The Knesset is also due to go on summer recess for three months, in which it would be hard to dissolve the government or trigger snap elections.

Ultra-Orthodox lawmakers have long threatened to leave the coalition over the conscription Bill, which could means tens of thousands of the community being drafted into the military like other young Israelis.

Mr Netanyahu’s political crisis comes amid ongoing, but gridlocked, US-backed ceasefire talks in Qatar.

Polls show popular support for a deal that will bring home the remaining 50 hostages, 20 of whom are still believed to be alive, but Mr Netanyahu’s hard-Right coalition partners, who are seeking a long war and the occupation of Gaza.

The prime minister occupies a perilous position, dependent on support from Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister who leads the Religious Zionism party, and Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister and head of the Jewish Power party. Together, they could bring down Mr Netanyahu’s coalition if they choose.

The ultra-Orthodox community – known as Haredim in Hebrew – has been exempt from military service since the founding of the Jewish state in 1948, when the minority made up just several hundred. But as their numbers grew dramatically, and especially since the war in Gaza, so has the resentment over this privilege.

The Israel Defence Forces said on July 6 that it was set to issue 54,000 draft summonses to Haredi young men in the coming month, and to “intensify enforcement measures against draft evaders and deserters across all sectors of the population”.