In Israel, the ultra-Orthodox Jewish party Agudath Israel announced on 15 July that it was leaving the power coalition headed by Benjamin Netanyahu. The recommendation to leave the cabinet was made by the Council of Torah Sages, an association of prominent rabbis. Cabinet members-Deputy Culture Minister Yaakov Tessler and Jerusalem Affairs Minister Meir Porush-submitted their resignations, which are due to take effect in 48 hours.
A day earlier, the resignation of Agudath Israel’s coalition allies in the Yahadut ha-Torah bloc, the ultra-Orthodox Degel ha-Torah party, was announced. The decision, according to Israeli media reports, came at the behest of party-affiliated rabbis who have accused the government of failing to pass a law exempting religious education (yeshiva) students from conscription.
Both parties have seven mandates in the Knesset. Their withdrawal from the cabinet would mean that Netanyahu’s government would be left with a majority of just one vote in the Knesset. At the same time, representatives of the Religious Zionism Bloc are also threatening to withdraw from the government coalition if a ceasefire agreement is reached in the Gaza Strip, which they deem unfavourable. Media outlets note that a government collapse is in any case unlikely before the end of the Knesset’s summer session on 27 July.
Yeshiva students have been granted exemption from conscription into the Israeli army. Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that this exemption should be cancelled. Since then, the government has been trying to get a new draft law passed, but its draft does not please the ultra-religious parties, which insist on maintaining the status quo.