Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition is on the verge of collapse after one of his key ultra-Orthodox partners called for parliament to be dissolved, NPR reported. A vote on dissolution is scheduled for next week, and Israeli media are widely reporting that new national elections may be held as early as September.
The crisis stems from Netanyahu's decision to tell ultra-Orthodox political leaders that he would not advance legislation exempting ultra-Orthodox Jewish Israelis from military service, and that he would pursue such legislation only after elections, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
That position prompted an immediate public response from Degel HaTorah, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish faction within Netanyahu's coalition.
"We have no trust in Netanyahu anymore," the faction said in a public statement. "We must move to dissolve the parliament imminently."
The exemption of ultra-Orthodox Jews from military service has been a long-running controversy in Israel. Most Jewish Israelis are required to serve in the military, but young men and women from the devout ultra-Orthodox community have historically been exempted to allow them to pursue religious studies. The ongoing Gaza war and the resulting demand for soldiers intensified political pressure on the community to participate in military service. Israel's Supreme Court last year ordered the government to draft ultra-Orthodox Israelis, placing Netanyahu in a difficult position between the court's ruling and his coalition partners' demands.
If parliament dissolves following next week's vote, Israeli law requires that new elections be held within three months, with a legal deadline of October 27. Netanyahu would remain acting prime minister until a new government is formed.
A right-wing former prime minister, Naftali Bennett, has emerged as a front-runner in polls and is running together with centrist opposition leader Yair Lapid in an alliance seeking to unseat Netanyahu, who is himself seeking a new term.
