One ultra-Orthodox party leaves Israel's government, another threatens to leave too

The ultra-Orthodox Israeli party United Torah Judaism was heavily criticized today for leaving the ruling coalition amid a sensitive debate over conscription, as the army needs troops for the war in Gaza, while another ultra-Orthodox party, the Sephardic Shas, announced the possibility of leaving the government.

When United Torah Judaism announced late last night that it was leaving power, the coalition led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was reduced to just one MP in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset.

In the event that Shas also leaves the government, the coalition would lose even that slim majority, and Netanyahu would be forced to call early parliamentary elections.

The parliament has 120 seats, of which Netanyahu's coalition holds 61.

United Torah Judaism cited the government's failure to exempt yeshiva students - Talmudic schools - from military service as the reason for leaving the coalition.

For decades, these students have benefited from an exemption, increasingly unpopular in Israeli society, which is now at war with the Palestinian militant movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The war began after Hamas attacked southern Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, killing more than 1.200 people and kidnapping about 200.

Opposition MK Avigdor Lieberman said United Torah Judaism continues to "strongly promote" the exemption law - to the detriment of "fighters on the ground, who need reinforcements to share the burden with them."

The right-wing party's decision to leave the coalition was announced after the government learned of the deaths of three Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip.

"These politicians are trying to prevent young Orthodox Jews from joining their heroic peers in defending the people of Israel," former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett wrote on X, calling United Torah Judaism's decision "unacceptable."

Netanyahu visited a military base where ultra-Orthodox soldiers serve tonight and said that "all the forces of Jewish society must be mobilized to truly preserve our state and protect our people."

Discussions regarding the amendment of the draft exemption law have intensified in recent months, putting Netanyahu's government under pressure.

According to the Israeli military, 458 of its members were killed in the ground offensive in Gaza that began on October 27, 2023, in retaliation for the October 7 attack.

At least 58.479 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in that campaign, according to figures from the Hamas-ruled Gaza health ministry that the UN considers reliable.