JERUSALEM: One of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox parties, United Torah Judaism (UTJ), said it was quitting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition due to a long-running dispute over failure to draft a Bill to exempt yeshiva students from military service.
Six of the remaining seven members of UTJ, which is comprised of the Degel Hatorah and Agudat Yisrael factions, wrote letters of resignation. Yitzhak Goldknopf, chairman of UTJ, had resigned a month ago.
That would leave Netanyahu with a razor-thin majority of 61 seats in the 120-seat parliament.
It was not clear whether Shas, another ultra-Orthodox party, would follow suit.
Degel Hatorah said in a statement that after conferring with its head rabbis, “and following repeated violations by the government to its commitments to ensure the status of holy yeshiva students who diligently engage in their studies … (its MKs) have announced their resignation from the coalition and the government”.
Ultra-Orthodox parties have argued that a Bill to exempt yeshiva students was a key promise in their agreement to join the coalition in late 2022.
A spokesperson for Goldknopf confirmed that in all, seven UTJ Knesset members are leaving the government.
Source: CNA
