Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is holding on by a thread after an ultra-Orthodox party withdrew from its ruling coalition.
The United Torah Judaism party announced on Monday evening the decision to pull its support over continued efforts to conscript ultra-Orthodox believers into the Israeli military.
Members of the party have long threatened to leave the coalition if yeshiva students were not given formalized protections from compulsory military service.
Multiple high-ranking government officials resigned as part of the withdrawal, including Jerusalem Affairs Minister Meir Porush, Knesset Finance Committee Chairman Moshe Gafni, and Deputy Transportation Minister Uri Maklev.
The UTJ party is an alliance between two culturally distinct ultra-Orthodox factions — the Hasidic wing known as Agudat Yisrael and the Lithuanian wing known as Degel HaTorah.
Rabbi Dov Lando, the spiritual leader of Degel HaTorah, penned a letter leading up to the break in which he decried the Israeli government’s “intention to increase the hardship faced by Torah learners in various ways, through efforts to humiliate and trample them.”
“Since they repeatedly fail to uphold their commitments to regulate the legal status of yeshiva students and Torah scholars—the crown of creation and the secret of our existence—I therefore believe that participation in the government and coalition must immediately end, including the resignation from all related positions,” the rabbi wrote. “May God bring salvation soon.”
Without UTJ, Netanyahu’s coalition will hold the slimmest possible majority in the Knesset: 61 out of 120 seats.
Shas, a fellow ultra-Orthodox party in the governing coalition, is rumored to be preparing an exit alongside UTJ. Such a decision would leave Netanyahu’s government without a ruling majority.
The ultra-Orthodox believers’ role in Israeli society is a complex and long-debated point of contention in the country.
Since Israel’s founding, members of the community who devoted themselves to Torah studies have been exempt from the nation’s compulsory military service. Ultra-Orthodox learners committed to lifelong Torah studies also receive government stipends, among other benefits.
That was ended by a ruling from the High Court of Justice last month, which ruled unanimously that ultra-Orthodox men cannot be granted these privileges.
OVER 50 KILLED IN SYRIAN SECTARIAN CLASHES AS ISRAEL STRIKES GOVERNMENT TANKS IN ‘CLEAR WARNING’
Advocates for reestablishing the special arrangement say those religious groups serve an important social role as guardians and scholars of Jewish law, tradition, and faith.
Critics say the benefits are unfair to secular citizens and also point to the rapidly growing populations in ultra-Orthodox communities.
