Political crisis in Israel’s governing coalition
Political manoeuvring against the opposition
The Israeli government led by the conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tabled a motion to dissolve the national parliament (Knesset) and call early elections following a major crisis between the majority conservative Likud party and the other ultra-Orthodox parties in the governing coalition.
The latest major clash within the Israeli government coalition has been caused by opposition from the ultra-Orthodox parties over the exemption from military service for students at Talmudic schools. These ultra-Orthodox students were exempt from military service to pursue their religious academic studies, but the exemption ended in March 2024 following a Supreme Court ruling which stated that “there is no legal basis for exempting ultra-Orthodox men from conscription”, and it has not been possible to reinstate it, which was the aim to ensure these students remained exempt from military service in the Armed Forces.
Since then, the ultra-Orthodox have been unsuccessfully calling for a law providing for exemption from military service for religious students, at a particularly difficult time with multiple Israeli military operations underway following the invasion of the Gaza Strip, which came in response to the horrific attacks by the Palestinian extremist group Hamas in October 2023.
A general view of a session in the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset – REUTERS/RONEN ZVULUN
The parliamentary motion to dissolve the Knesset was tabled by Ofir Katz, a member of the ruling Likud party, alongside other MPs from the parties forming the governing coalition, with a view to calling elections, for which no date has yet been set.
This parliamentary proposal must be voted on up to three times for ratification and, once approved, the elections should be held on a date set by the Israeli Parliamentary Committee and no earlier than 90 days from the date of legal approval.
The next Israeli elections were scheduled for 27 October, but will now be brought forward on the government coalition’s own initiative due to internal dissension within the coalition between Likud and its ultra-Orthodox parliamentary partners. However, the parliamentary opposition had also signalled its intention to force early elections after presenting its own motions on Tuesday to dissolve Parliament and call for elections.
Yitzhak Goldknopf – REUTERS/ AMIR COHEN
Political crisis in Israel’s governing coalition
The political crisis emerged when the ultra-Orthodox party Degel HaTorah (Banner of the Torah), led by Yitzhak Goldknopf and part of the United Torah Judaism party—a partner in the coalition led by Prime Minister Netanyahu—indicated it would support any initiative to dissolve Parliament in the face of a lack of progress in legally guaranteeing military exemption for Torah students (the sacred Hebrew text) and the Talmud (a work comprising mainly rabbinical discussions on Jewish laws and traditions).
Benjamin Netanyahu ruled out passing legislation to remove students from Jewish religious schools from the army, who were previously exempt from compulsory military service. This provoked strong opposition within the most ultra-Orthodox factions of the government.
Consequently, Netanyahu’s government has found itself in a very delicate position due to the bitter confrontation with the ultra-Orthodox faction, whose most prominent leaders are Ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, and which until now had been the very backbone of the government led by the Israeli Prime Minister.
Itamar Ben-Gvir speaks during a session in the Israeli Parliament – REUTERS/ OREN BEN HAKOON
Political manoeuvring against the opposition
The motion to dissolve parliament tabled by Netanyahu’s government now seeks to take control of the legislative process aimed at organising the forthcoming elections.
This is a response to the opposition’s manoeuvres to speed up the preliminary vote on the dissolution of parliament. The governing coalition is thus seeking to control both the legislative process and the electoral timetable, in the face of the opposition’s attempts to hasten a preliminary vote on the dissolution of parliament in order to bring about the current government’s departure as soon as possible and gain control of the timetable.