Netanyahu's coalition rattled over military draft law

TEL AVIV

An Israeli ultra-Orthodox party that has been a key governing partner of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said early on July 15 it was leaving the coalition government, threatening to destabilize the Israeli leader’s rule at a pivotal time in the war in Gaza.

United Torah Judaism’s two factions said they were bolting the government over disagreements surrounding a bill that would codify broad military draft exemptions for their constituents, many of whom study Jewish texts instead of enlisting to the military.

The issue has long divided Jewish Israelis, most of whom are required to enlist, a rift that has only widened since the war in Gaza began and demands on military manpower grew.

“After the government repeatedly violated its commitments to ensure the status of Jewish seminary students,” the Degel HaTorah faction said in a statement, its lawmakers announced “their resignation from the coalition and the government.”

The departure of a party that has long served as a kingmaker in Israeli politics doesn’t immediately threaten Netanyahu’s rule. But, once it comes into effect within 48 hours, it will leave the Israeli leader with a slim majority in a government that could now more heavily rely on the whims of two far-right parties .

Those parties oppose concessions in ceasefire negotiations with Hamas and have themselves quit or threatened to quit the government over moves to end or even pause the war in Gaza.

The political shake-up comes as Israel and Hamas are discussing the terms of a truce for the 21-month war in Gaza. Despite heavy pressure by the U.S., Israel’s top ally, and mediators Egypt and Qatar, there is no breakthrough yet in the talks.

It also came after opposition figures in Israel denounced the deaths of three soldiers in the northern Gaza Strip clashes as a “black night,” accusing Netanyahu of sacrificing soldiers for his political ambitions.

“Israel, 2025. The military has announced the deaths of three more soldiers in Gaza — victims of an unending political conflict. The very person who sent them to war [Netanyahu] is meeting with leaders of ultra-Orthodox parties to ensure his political allies are exempt from military service,” Israeli opposition politician Yair Golan wrote on X.

“Netanyahu sells out and sacrifices soldiers merely to cling to power for one more day.”

Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also described the soldiers’ deaths as a “black night” in a statement.