According to a report by Spain’s “El País” website on July 15th, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s cabinet is only maintained with a slim majority due to the withdrawal of an extremist orthodox party from the ruling coalition. The party had already issued a warning and took action on the 14th.
The report states that the extremist orthodox party, the Bible-Jewish Union Party, has withdrawn from Netanyahu’s government and the ruling coalition. Although this does not immediately threaten Netanyahu’s government (which holds seven seats), it is likely to lead to its collapse, possibly taking several months. The triggering factor is an act aimed at ending the widespread exemption for religious students in conscription, which the party strongly opposes.
“Bible-Jewish Union Party members will leave the government and the coalition,” said the spokesperson for the non-Hasidic spiritual leader Dov Landau, who is part of the non-Hasidic and Hasidic factions. The Bible-Jewish Union Party was the first to announce this decision and accused the government of attempting “to increase the difficulties faced by Jewish students,” as well as “failing repeatedly to fulfill its obligations regarding the legal status of its students.”
Landau also stated in a letter accompanying the statement that he believes “activities related to the government and the ruling coalition should be immediately terminated, including resignation of all positions,” and that the faction has fulfilled this promise according to its declaration in Israel’s parliamentary delegation.
The Hasidic faction of the extremist orthodox party has also quickly joined the resignation ranks. Representatives of Jerusalem Affairs, Parliamentary Finance Committee, and Department of Transportation have submitted their resignations. Their decisions will take effect 48 hours later, leaving Netanyahu with a narrow window period to try to retain them.
Currently, with these individuals resigning, Netanyahu’s party still holds 61 seats out of 120 in the parliament. However, if another extremist orthodox party, the Shas party, decides to follow suit, the number of seats in the ruling coalition would drop to 50. (Translated/Liu Lifei)