‘Read My Lips: This Government Will Not Fall’ – Israeli Coalition Faces Crisis Over Haredi Draft Law
As Israel’s ruling coalition fractures over the Haredi conscription bill, MKs trade accusations, religious parties threaten to quit, and pressure mounts from reservists while the government clings to a narrow majority.
Israel’s fragile coalition government plunged into open crisis this week after United Torah Judaism announced its withdrawal from the government, citing deep disagreements over proposed legislation on Haredi military conscription. The move reduced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s majority from 68 to 61 Knesset seats, barely enough to remain in power.
The internal political turmoil centers on the most sensitive and long-standing fault line in Israeli society: military service exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men. While mandatory conscription applies to most Jewish Israeli citizens at age 18, Haredi yeshiva students have traditionally been granted blanket exemptions. With the war in Gaza entering its 21st month and reservists stretched thin, public frustration over this inequality has reached a boiling point.
“The government is collapsing for all the wrong reasons,” said opposition MK Naor Shiri (Yesh Atid) in an interview with The Media Line. “You’d expect a real moral reason, perhaps the cost of living or ending the war, but instead, it’s over preserving the rights of draft dodgers. That’s a first-rate moral distortion.”
Members of the coalition, including the prime minister, ran around the Knesset yesterday trying to protect those avoiding service
Shiri added that even among Haredi voters, “there is a wide consensus on the need for a fundamental change in the enlistment patterns of the ultra-Orthodox sector.” Yet instead of reform, he claimed, “Members of the coalition, including the Prime Minister, ran around the Knesset yesterday trying to protect those avoiding service.”
According to Shiri, the Likud party is deeply divided. “There’s one wing that I call the ‘golden calf loyalists,’ who will do anything to stay in power, no matter the cost. Then there are others, whose families, like mine, are serving in reserve duty, who understand this historical distortion must end.”
Shiri emphasized that the opposition is not trying to sabotage the state. “We support any legislation that reflects the basic values shared by most citizens today. We’re against this government, yes, but we are for the people of Israel, for those serving, and for equality.”
Meanwhile, tensions have spread within the ruling Likud party itself. MK Tally Gotliv, a firebrand coalition member, placed the blame squarely on her colleague Yuli Edelstein, chair of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. “Edelstein has done everything he can to harm the government and humiliate the Prime Minister,” Gotliv told The Media Line. “Yesterday’s crisis wasn’t random. It happened because of him.”
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I don’t call rabbis liars, but if Edelstein wants to, that’s his problem
Gotliv accused Edelstein of deliberately adding punitive biometric clauses to the conscription bill at the last minute, sparking outrage among Haredi leaders. “He inserted language requiring biometric identification at yeshiva entrances,” she said. “That means he doesn’t trust the rabbis’ word. I don’t call rabbis liars, but if Edelstein wants to, that’s his problem.”
This is a cosmetic crisis. It’s unpleasant, it complicates legislation, but it will be resolved.
Despite the dramatic developments, Gotliv insisted the government remains intact. “The government still has 61 seats. It’s not ideal, it’s tight, but it’s enough to hold,” she said. “This is a cosmetic crisis. It’s unpleasant, it complicates legislation, but it will be resolved.”
Attention now turns to Shas, the other major ultra-Orthodox party in the coalition. Its Council of Torah Sages is set to convene later this week to consider whether to follow Yahadut HaTorah’s lead and quit the government.
Gotliv warned that doing so would be a political mistake. “Shas voters are right-wing by definition. If they dismantle the government during wartime, they will lose seats, possibly to Otzma Yehudit.”
As for a solution, Gotliv proposed bypassing legislation altogether. “The prime minister can issue a government resolution that sets a recruitment target of 5,000 Haredi conscripts per year, as the army has said it can handle. The law can be passed later. That’s the immediate fix.”
She also called for Edelstein’s removal as committee chair. “He sees the committee as his private domain. I warned everyone months ago that he would not deliver a bill. I say, replace him. Appoint a co-chair if needed. Let someone else write the law.”
There are Americans who don’t want a Jewish state. They want a state of all its citizens. I reject that. I’ll do everything I can to ensure Israel remains the nation-state of the Jewish people.
Asked how to explain the political crisis to international observers, Gotliv accused the Israeli media and the Biden administration of trying to weaken Prime Minister Netanyahu. “There are Americans who don’t want a Jewish state. They want a state of all its citizens. I reject that. I’ll do everything I can to ensure Israel remains the nation-state of the Jewish people,” she said.
Gotliv concluded with a message to those predicting Netanyahu’s fall:
“Read my lips. This government will not fall.”
This story is developing.
