Opposition moves to dissolve Knesset amid Draft Law deadlock

Crisis over ultra-Orthodox IDF exemptions escalates, with opposition pushing for elections and coalition unity hanging by a thread.

By David Brummer, World Israel News

Opposition parties in Israel’s Knesset announced plans to submit a bill on Wednesday to dissolve the government, amid growing tensions over the failure to pass a new law exempting ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students from military service.

In a joint statement, opposition leaders said the decision to advance the dissolution bill was unanimous and binding across all factions.

“In coordination between all factions, it was decided to remove other legislative efforts from the agenda to focus entirely on one goal: toppling the government,” the statement read.

The political crisis deepened after leading ultra-Orthodox rabbis urged coalition parties Shas and United Torah Judaism (UTJ) to withdraw from the government over the lack of progress on the exemption legislation.

The Supreme Court has repeatedly struck down previous versions of the law, citing inequality, especially during the ongoing war, which has placed a heavy burden on reservists.

UTJ has signaled it may support the dissolution bill. While Shas chairman Aryeh Deri is reportedly trying to delay the vote by at least a week, sources said he has yet to issue voting instructions, despite pressure from senior rabbinic authorities.

If UTJ’s entire faction backs the move, Deri’s ability to resist it may be limited.

Meanwhile, Likud MK Yuli Edelstein, chair of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, pledged to advance new measures to address the conscription imbalance.

He has called for the recruitment of 10,000 ultra-Orthodox men within two years and vowed personal sanctions against draft evaders.

Likud MK Boaz Bismuth warned that dissolving the Knesset during wartime would send the wrong message. “Even if this is just political posturing, the image of the Knesset voting to disband in the middle of a war only serves Hamas,” he said.

The potential collapse of the coalition highlights deepening fractures within Netanyahu’s government, as pressure mounts from both the opposition and religious factions to resolve the longstanding ultra-Orthodox draft issue.