Pressure mounts on Netanyahu as opposition moves to dissolve parliament

A member of Israel’s right-wing coalition threatened to quit the cabinet yesterday and support an opposition motion to dissolve parliament tabled for next week, piling pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Reuters reported.

The latest opinion polls suggest that Netanyahu’s coalition would lose power if an election was held today, with many voters unhappy with the continued war in Gaza.

United Torah Judaism, one of two ultra-Orthodox parties in the coalition, said it would withdraw from the government unless it secured last-minute concessions formalising an exemption for ultra-Orthodox men from military service.

The opposition party Yesh Atid, led by former Prime Minister Yair Lapid, put forward a parliamentary vote for next week to topple the government, even as the Israeli occupation army continues its war on the Gaza Strip. It would require the support of 61 out of the 120 members of the parliament to succeed.

“This Knesset [parliament] is finished. It has nowhere to go,” Lapid said.

Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, has remained silent on the looming crisis.

A spokesperson for United Torah Judaism leader Yitzhak Goldknopf told Reuters the party would vote in favour of dissolving parliament unless exemption legislation was passed.

The coalition is sharply divided over whether young ultra-Orthodox men who are studying in religious seminaries should be exempt from mandatory military service.

Failing to pass an exemption risks a walkout by ultra-Orthodox lawmakers, while approving it could trigger a protest exit by secular parties.