{"id":111323,"date":"2026-05-13T07:01:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T07:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/111323\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T07:01:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T07:01:12","slug":"ultra-orthodox-parties-break-with-netanyahu-but-know-they-have-nowhere-else-to-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/111323\/","title":{"rendered":"Ultra-Orthodox parties break with Netanyahu but know they have nowhere else to go"},"content":{"rendered":"

For many years, and perhaps for as long as anyone can remember, Israel\u2019s ultra-Orthodox community has not found itself stuck in a situation quite like this. The expiration of their historic blanket exemption from IDF service, coupled with the government\u2019s failure to advance a new draft exemption law, has trapped the Haredi public in a tangle from which they do not know how to escape.<\/p>\n

Everyone is racking their brains over the crisis: the great rabbis, the politicians, and the people on the street. This is especially true for the young yeshiva students who, now lacking legal cover, face the threat of arrest every day as draft evaders. This remains true even if the military police are operating in low gear on the issue and are inherently deterred by the prospect of confronting an ultra-Orthodox deserter.<\/p>\n

This entanglement spawns new ideas and maneuvers every day \u2014 some logical, some born of hysteria and emotion, and others consisting merely of empty threats that lead nowhere.<\/p>\n

The pot has been boiling for a long time, and on Tuesday the lid finally blew off: Rabbi Dov Lando decided it was time to dissolve the Knesset<\/a> and instructed his political faction to initiate a new game.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have no confidence in the prime minister; we do not feel like his partners. Elections are needed as soon as possible,\u201d the rabbi wrote on a piece of paper, making a small piece of history. The elections, currently slated by law for October 27, will apparently be moved up by a month and a half, to mid-September.<\/p>\n

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The principles of the government\u2019s military draft exemption bill had sat before the two leading Lithuanian rabbis, Dov Lando and Moshe Hillel Hirsch, the spiritual leaders of the Degel HaTorah faction of the United Torah Judaism party, for several weeks. They knew the details well and demonstrated mastery of every clause, but they hesitated over whether to give the politicians a green light to advance the legislation.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tDegel HaTorah MKs meet with the spiritual leader of the Knesset faction, Rabbi Dov Lando, in his home in the central Israel city of Bnei Brak, May 12, 2026. (Courtesy Rabbi Dov Lando)<\/p>\n

In the exemption bill proposed by Likud MK Boaz Bismuth, there is, of course, no practical possibility of actually drafting ultra-Orthodox men. Yet the rabbis are always deterred by the very engagement with clauses such as draft targets and sanctions against young men who do not enlist, even if they are something of a joke.<\/p>\n

Beyond that, the rabbis did not understand whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was capable of passing the exemption law in the Knesset. The coalition picture is complex, the majority is extremely narrow, and ahead of the elections, Knesset members who are about to lose their seats but want to be remembered by the public for one important principled vote could also join the opponents of the law. The rabbis demanded a count, but no one could guarantee them the final outcome.<\/p>\n

And besides, the rabbis asked, what happens if Netanyahu loses the elections? Why should we pass a law that will collapse in six months?<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the die was cast. Netanyahu \u2014 who, of course, conducted his own checks \u2014 reached the conclusion that he currently lacks a majority in the Knesset to pass the exemption law. All his attempts to advance the law quickly, and to explain to the public that it was a good and serious piece of legislation, had failed. Netanyahu threw up his hands. Who knows, perhaps now he will claim that he stood in the breach and fought against the ultra-Orthodox, who wanted to free their young men from service in the IDF.<\/p>\n

Throughout the entire process, the prime minister tried to evade responsibility for the situation, pinning all the blame on the attorney general and the High Court justices, whom he accused of thwarting the clauses of the military draft exemption law in every possible way. But that did not sufficiently help.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tHead of the UTJ party Yitzhak Goldknopf (left) in a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, March 20, 2026. (Amos Ben Gershom\/GPO)<\/p>\n

From the perspective of the ultra-Orthodox politicians, especially the Hasidic members of Agudat Yisrael, Netanyahu strung them along and failed to meet his commitments, notably his part of the coalition agreement they signed three-and-a-half years ago.<\/p>\n

The multi-front war that broke out along the way changed nothing for them. The ultra-Orthodox remained steadfast in their principles. They demanded, and still demand, a full exemption from the draft, and if Netanyahu does not deliver that, then it is finally time to look for new partners in the center and on the left who, they would like to believe, will give them any law they want just to topple Netanyahu and gain power.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are no longer committed to Netanyahu. There is no more talk of a bloc. It no longer exists,\u201d Rabbi Lando stressed yesterday in his letter. We shall see.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, this talk of the supposedly new ultra-Orthodox path is gathering momentum everywhere. Every ultra-Orthodox politician, activist, or commentator I met in the Knesset at the opening of the summer session on Sunday spoke to me about their disappointment with Netanyahu and the new options that could open up.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tFormer Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett seen with Leader of the Opposition MK Yair Lapid during a march in support of the conscription of ultra-Orthodox Jews into the IDF, from the entrance of Jerusalem to the Knesset, January 15, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

The working assumption is that the center-left parties will hand the ultra-Orthodox a signed blank check so they can fill in all their demands, as Benny Gantz declared after the 2019 elections.<\/p>\n

That is not accurate, nor does it seem logical. All the center-left parties, every last one of them, are flying the flag of an equal sharing of the burden and drafting the ultra-Orthodox into the army. These parties are not prepared to give up on this during wartime, when combat troops on the ground are collapsing under the burden. The rhetoric will only become more extreme as the elections approach.<\/p>\n

Avigdor Liberman is demanding the enlistment of every 18-year-old candidate for military service, with no exceptions, no deferrals, and no other sophistry. Naftali Bennett is also sharpening such messages, which he did not insist upon in the past. So, too, of course, is his partner, Yair Lapid. It is hard to believe that they would reverse their position if elected by a public expecting to see the ultra-Orthodox at the military induction center.<\/p>\n

The ultra-Orthodox themselves face a dilemma within a dilemma here. If their leadership promises future cooperation with Liberman, Lapid, or Labor-Meretz (The Democrats) leader Yair Golan, their parties will lose many seats in the coming elections to the right-wing factions in the coalition.<\/p>\n

The ultra-Orthodox street remains loyal to Netanyahu and loathes the left and everything it represents, including its diplomatic and civil positions on matters of religion and state, and, of course, the High Court of Justice, which the ultra-Orthodox identify with Meretz and the Labor Party.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tShas party leader Aryeh Deri arrives at a faction meeting at the Knesset, May 11, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel\/ Flash90)<\/p>\n

Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri was the first to understand which way the wind was blowing. On Monday, he demanded that Netanyahu hold elections immediately, meaning in early or mid-September.<\/p>\n

Deri did not wait for the decision of the Lithuanian rabbis of Degel HaTorah. The Shas chairman did not believe the exemption law had any viability in the current political situation, and he wants to use the spiritual momentum during the High Holidays to preserve the strength of the ultra-Orthodox parties. On Tuesday, the two Lithuanian rabbis joined him.<\/p>\n

Deri wants to move the elections up to September 1 or September 15 \u2014 in the midst of the spiritual awakening rallies and the recitation of Selichot (penitential prayers), or during the Ten Days of Repentance between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. On such days, he believes, the religious public\u2019s identification with the ultra-Orthodox parties is higher, and it is clear that the left is pushed aside and has nothing to offer.<\/p>\n

The late spiritual leader and founder of Shas, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, once said that anyone who votes for Shas is guaranteed a place in Heaven, and it can be assumed that Shas\u2019s campaign will incorporate those words into its religious awakening and support rallies.<\/p>\n

In the event of a tie between the two blocs in the elections, the ultra-Orthodox will never tip the scales in favor of the opposition parties, despite Lando\u2019s angry letter. Those days passed 50 years ago, and any attempt to change the coalition map, as Shimon Peres tried to do in March 1990 during the infamous \u201cDirty Trick\u201d political maneuver, is doomed to fail.<\/p>\n

If the center-left wins, senior ultra-Orthodox figures say, they will enter negotiations with the new government over specific laws that suit them, mainly budget laws. But there will be no coalition cooperation here.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot sit in one coalition with Reform Jews and with parties that promote public transportation on Shabbat and same-sex marriage. It will not happen,\u201d one senior Shas figure says.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tNaftali Bennett (left) and Aryeh Deri (center) with Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef (right) ahead of Yosef\u2019s daughter\u2019s wedding, on June 2, 2016. (Yaakov Cohen\/Flash90\/File)<\/p>\n

Next Wednesday, most likely, the bill to dissolve the Knesset will be brought to a preliminary vote. From there, the bill will move to the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, chaired by Religious Zionism MK Simcha Rothman, who will prepare it for its first reading. It will be interesting to see how long Rothman draws out the committee discussions before the first reading, which must pass with a majority of 61 Knesset members. After the first reading, the bill returns to the committee again ahead of its second and third readings.<\/p>\n

There is also the possibility of dissolving the Knesset through a bill submitted by the opposition or in a no-confidence vote as early as this coming Monday, but the likelihood of that is very low.<\/p>\n

And what will the ultra-Orthodox do until the Knesset is dissolved? They will continue their boycott of the Netanyahu coalition. In the summer session, or whatever remains of it, the ultra-Orthodox will not vote in favor of coalition bills, except for those that align with their interests and worldview.<\/p>\n

Thus, for example, the ultra-Orthodox will throw their full weight behind the law intended to split, or in effect eliminate, the power of the attorney general, who has repeatedly blocked government attempts to fund their yeshivas and bypass the draft. That is as important to the ultra-Orthodox as it is to Netanyahu and the architects of the judicial overhaul, Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Rothman. On this issue, they are all cut from the same cloth \u2014 despite the crisis over the military draft exemption law, which is about to bring down the government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For many years, and perhaps for as long as anyone can remember, Israel\u2019s ultra-Orthodox community has not found…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111324,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[29674,38459,41,38460,38458,37,17041,17431,38457,17044],"class_list":{"0":"post-111323","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-2026-israeli-elections","9":"tag-aryeh-deri","10":"tag-benjamin-netanyahu","11":"tag-boaz-bismuth","12":"tag-dov-lando","13":"tag-israel","14":"tag-shas-party","15":"tag-ultra-orthodox-draft","16":"tag-ultra-orthodox-parties","17":"tag-utj-united-torah-judaism-party"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116565985663018925","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}