Netanyahu scrambles to save government as allies threaten to force early elections

Coalition forced to delay vote on state budget after ultra-Orthodox lawmakers demand Knesset legal adviser back draft law.

By World Israel News Staff

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called an emergency meeting with his coalition partners Monday amid a brewing political crisis that threatens to topple his government.

The Knesset had been scheduled to vote that day on the first reading of the annual state budget, but the bill’s reading was dropped from the day’s agenda and pushed off to Wednesday after ultra-Orthodox lawmakers demanded that progress first be made on controversial legislation restoring draft deferments for full-time yeshiva students.

According to a report by Ma’ariv, ultra-Orthodox MKs pushed for Knesset legal adviser Miri Frenkel Shor to sign off on the draft bill after she previously voiced concerns with the version currently under consideration.

The Times of Israel cited ultra-Orthodox political sources saying that the decision to delay the vote on the budget bill was directly related to demands that the draft bill move forward in the Knesset.

By law, the government must pass a state budget law by the end of March.

However, statutory procedural waiting periods mandate that there must be no fewer than 60 days between the date of the first reading and the final reading of the budget bill, leaving the coalition with just five days to secure a Knesset majority for the budget’s first reading.

Following the withdrawal of the budget bill vote from Monday’s Knesset schedule, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionist Party) threatened to topple the government and force new elections if there was no vote that day on the bill.

“If the budget doesn’t pass today, it won’t ever pass,” Smotrich said. “Let’s dissolve the Knesset.”

Currently, the elections for the 27th Knesset are scheduled for October 27.

The prime minister convened a meeting with Smotrich and ultra-Orthodox faction heads Monday afternoon in a bid to defuse the situation and avoid a full-blown coalition crisis.