Ultra-Orthodox conscription dispute pushes Israeli government to brink

Israel’s ruling coalition submitted a call for an early election after fractures with government allies over ultra-Orthodox conscription. If the Knesset passes the call next week, a general election will be held within 90 days, projected for the third week of August, before the current government term ends on October 27. Ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism (UTJ), key components of the 2022 far-right coalition, have long campaigned for exemptions from the draft. The crisis began in July 2025 when they demanded a bill exempting their constituents. UTJ’s Degel Hatorah faction now seeks the government’s collapse, with Rabbi Dov Lando saying he lost faith in Netanyahu and urging dissolution of the Knesset. Ultra-Orthodox men in full-time religious study have been exempt since 1948, though the High Court ruled the arrangement illegal in 1998 and temporary measures have deferred recruitment.

"Israel's ruling coalition has submitted a call for an early election following continued fractures from government allies over the issue of ultra-Orthodox conscription. If the vote passes in the Knesset next week, as expected, then a general election will be held within 90 days of its passage projected for the third week of August; two months before the mandated end of the government's current term on October 27."

"Ultra-Orthodox parties, which were a key component in the 2022 far-right coalition government, have made the exemption of their constituents from the draft which almost all Israeli adults are eligible for a pillar of their political campaigning in recent years. A crisis began in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government in July 2025, when the ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism (UTJ) pulled their support from the coalition unless a bill was passed exempting constituents from the draft."

"The parties have continued to back the government on important votes in the Knesset, but now one of UTJ's factions, led by Degel Hatorah, has demanded the collapse of the government, with the party's spiritual leader, Rabbi Dov Lando, saying he had finally lost faith in Netanyahu. From now on, we will only do what is good for Haredi Judaism and the yeshiva (religious school) world, the rabbi told his UTJ Knesset members. We must work to dissolve the Knesset as soon as possible. The concept of a bloc' no longer exists for us."

"Ultra-Orthodox men enrolled in full-time religious study have been exempt from military service since the state of Israel was created in 1948. This was ruled illegal by Israel's High Court of Justice in 1998, with a series of temporary measures intended to defer Haredi recruitment being "

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