Israel parties fail to solve ruling coalition crisis

The stability of Israel’s coalition government is still in question as members of the coalition fail to agree on a conscription bill which threatens to cause the collapse of the government.

Israeli website Ynet News had reported that an agreement was reached during a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and United Torah Judaism Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman which would bring an end to the crisis. However, the site added that Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman is expected not to accept the deal because his ministry was not consulted.

“The bill currently being drafted is not a compromise, but rather a surrender to extortion. Anyone who wants to get into extortion should surrender,” the Israeli news site quoted Lieberman saying.

Meanwhile, the Israeli Justice Minister Aylet Shaked accused Lieberman and the ultra-orthodox parties of working to collapse the current “right-wing government”.

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“There are solutions,” she was reported as saying. “This crisis has three alternatives, not one – solutions both Lieberman and the Haredim can agree to. The question is whether they want to resolve the crisis or push the country to unnecessary elections and take down a right-wing government.”

Critics have said that Netanyahu may call for early elections in an effort to remove the spotlight from corruption charges he is likely to face and for which he was questioned under caution earlier this month.

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