Regime Change Needed in Israel

[Ponietz]

27. Interesting -- the biggest threat to Netanyahu's government are the ultra orthodox Haredi

The Haredi, ultra-orthodox religious yeshiva students, have been exempt from the military draft since Israel’s inception, but no longer. The rabbis threaten to dissolve the Knesset unless the exemption is reinstated. This is paywalled but I read it on https://archive.ph.

Israel's Haredi Draft Crisis: Why Netanyahu's Coalition Is on the Brink of Collapse, and What Could Happen Next
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-06-05/ty-article/.premium/israels-haredi-draft-crisis-why-netanyahus-coalition-is-on-the-brink-of-collapse/00000197-40b9-de48-a1f7-f5bf066e0000

Several bills to dissolve the Knesset have already been put on the table, with Yesh Atid, Yisrael Beiteinu and Labor already rushing Thursday morning to volunteer to bring them to the plenum next week. These proceedings will be handled like any other private bill, requiring four votes, with the first vote expected as early as Wednesday.

The Knesset's summer session is set to end in late July, followed by a summer recess until the High Holy Days. Haredi parties may push a bill to dissolve the Knesset through a first vote, then block its progress ahead of the break - using it as an effective threat in negotiations, without actually bringing down the coalition.

The coalition currently includes 68 seats, meaning UTJ's seven MKs alone cannot dissolve the Knesset or topple the government without Shas. If UTJ were to leave the coalition on its own, the coalition would still have a one-seat majority - and it is possible that UTJ MKs would continue to support the coalition from the outside.

In addition, Haredi ministers and deputy ministers could resign from the government without leaving the coalition, allowing the Knesset to go on functioning as usual. A recent example of that occurred when Otzma Yehudit left the government for a few months following the hostage deal, leaving its functionaries in key positions in various government ministries, only to return to the government's fold later on.