by Emmitt Barry, with reporting from Worthy News Jerusalem Bureau Staff
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (Worthy News) – In a dramatic showdown that could end Benjamin Netanyahu’s historic tenure as Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, the Knesset is set to vote Wednesday on a preliminary bill to dissolve itself and trigger early elections amid escalating tensions over ultra-Orthodox military exemptions.
Hours ahead of the vote, Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs and coalition whip Ofir Katz engaged in urgent negotiations with Haredi representatives, attempting to prevent the ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism (UTJ) parties from supporting the opposition-backed motion. The dispute centers on controversial legislation to draft yeshiva students into military service–an explosive issue that has fractured Netanyahu’s fragile 68-member ruling coalition.
Despite intensive backchannel talks and proposed compromises–including delaying personal sanctions on draft dodgers–no agreement had been reached as of midday, according to Knesset Legal Adviser Sagit Afik.
In a unified move, opposition parties announced Wednesday morning they would remove all other bills from the agenda to focus entirely on dissolving the government. “The decision was made unanimously and is binding on all factions,” they declared in a joint statement, including support from Arab parties Ra’am and Hadash-Ta’al.
Haredi Support Still Uncertain
While both Shas and UTJ had previously stated their intent to support the dissolution bill due to the coalition’s failure to pass draft exemptions, uncertainty lingered. According to the ultra-Orthodox outlet Kikar Hashabbat, Shas members were awaiting final instructions. Reports suggested Shas was pressuring UTJ’s Degel HaTorah faction to delay their support for a week to give Netanyahu more time to forge a deal.
“We will vote in favor of dissolving the Knesset if there is no breakthrough,” said one senior official from the Haredi bloc. “But the goal is not elections–it’s the regulation of the status of yeshiva students.”
Meanwhile, Jerusalem Affairs Minister Meir Porush was reportedly lobbying to reverse Agudat Yisrael’s decision to support dissolution, acting on behalf of senior rabbis–including Belz Hasidic leader Yissachar Dov Rokeach–who argue that now is not the time to collapse the government amid an ongoing war in Gaza.
Netanyahu Under Mounting Pressure
The political crisis comes as Netanyahu faces declining approval ratings and mounting pressure over his handling of the war in Gaza and longstanding corruption allegations. A March poll from the Israel Democracy Institute showed 70% of Israelis believed Netanyahu should resign following his decision to abandon a March ceasefire with Hamas.
Religious Zionism party head and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich warned in a Knesset speech that dissolving the government during wartime would pose an “existential danger” to Israel. “History will not forgive anyone who drags the State of Israel into elections during a war,” he said.
Netanyahu, for his part, has fought to delay the vote. His government flooded Wednesday’s Knesset agenda with coalition-sponsored bills, hoping to push the dissolution vote into the evening. Finance Minister Smotrich even took the dais for over an hour to stall proceedings.
The Enlistment Bill at the Center
The core of the dispute lies in long-delayed legislation addressing military exemptions for Haredim–an issue thrust into the spotlight by the war’s demands on Israel’s military. Proposed sanctions on draft evaders include travel restrictions, loss of state housing discounts, revoked driver’s licenses, and exclusion from subsidized academic programs.
Reservist groups have added pressure, calling for genuine enlistment reform to ease the burden on existing soldiers. Still, significant gaps remain over when and how sanctions would be applied.
Spokesperson Maayan Samun, representing Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chair Yuli Edelstein (Likud), said any proposal negotiated outside Edelstein’s office “must be discussed with us” and affirmed the law would be “fair and effective.”
A Nation on Edge
If the bill to dissolve the Knesset passes its preliminary vote Wednesday, it would still require three additional votes to take effect. If it fails, the opposition cannot reintroduce similar legislation for six months–effectively buying Netanyahu time to reassert control.
Should it succeed, however, elections would be scheduled within 90 days, and the government would enter caretaker mode. That outcome could spell the end of Netanyahu’s reign and usher in a new political era.
“The ultra-Orthodox don’t really care about the war or the economy,” said Shuki Friedman of the Jewish People Policy Institute. “Their focus is one thing–getting exemptions for their yeshiva students.”
With both coalition and opposition forces digging in, the fate of Netanyahu’s government now hangs in the balance.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
The Trump administration has finalized a sweeping reciprocal trade agreement with Taiwan, confirming a 15 percent U.S. tariff rate on Taiwanese imports while securing broad new market access and purchase commitments for American goods.
Democrats are applauding White House border czar Tom Homan’s Thursday announcement that immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota will end next week.
Democrats in the U.S. Senate tanked the Homeland Security full-year funding bill in a last-ditch vote Thursday, all but guaranteeing a partial government shutdown starting Saturday.
Mourners in a remote Canadian town grappled Thursday with the aftermath of one of the country’s deadliest school shootings in decades, as families, survivors and leaders reacted to the tragedy that left eight victims — most of them children — dead, along with the 18-year-old suspect.
A gunman who opened fire at a school in southern Thailand’s Hat Yai city on Wednesday wounded a teacher and a student before being detained, authorities said, in a rare attack that sent students and staff into panic.
The Republican-led House of Representatives has passed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, advancing legislation that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and photo identification at the polls. The bill now heads to the Senate, where its future remains uncertain amid strong Democratic opposition.
Israel’s Ministry of Defense announced on Wednesday that its advanced David’s Sling air and missile defense system has completed a series of complex modernized tests, a development officials say bolsters the country’s defensive posture as tensions with Iran escalate and the United States prepares military options that could include direct strikes.