The government narrowly survived a dramatic late-night vote to dissolve the Knesset, after ultra-Orthodox lawmakers, acting on the orders of senior rabbis, sided with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition following a last-minute compromise on military draft legislation.
The motion to dissolve parliament, brought forward by the opposition, was defeated 61–53 just after midnight on Thursday. According to Knesset rules, a defeated dissolution bill cannot be reintroduced for six months unless a significant change in circumstances occurs. The vote offers Netanyahu's government a reprieve, potentially extending its lifespan well into the year.
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Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chair Yuli Edelstein and Shas MK Yinon Azulai
(Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)
The turnaround followed hours of intense negotiations in the office of Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chair Yuli Edelstein, who announced a preliminary agreement with ultra-Orthodox parties on the principles that would form the basis of a new military conscription law. The draft issue has been a key source of tension, especially concerning exemptions for yeshiva students.
At the center of the decision was the intervention of leading ultra-Orthodox rabbis. After initially expressing reservations about the draft compromise, Rabbi Dov Landau—the spiritual leader of United Torah Judaism’s Lithuanian, non-Hasidic Degel HaTorah faction—issued a directive instructing the party’s lawmakers, along with those from Mizrahi Haredi Shas Party, to oppose the dissolution and delay a final decision by one week.
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A joint statement issued by Shas and Degel HaTorah confirmed the agreement with Edelstein on the “principles” of a proposed law to preserve the status of full-time Torah students, adding that more time was needed to finalize the language of the bill. They asked the opposition to postpone the vote by a week, warning that if it proceeded, they would vote against it—which they ultimately did.
Edelstein, in a special statement, said he had insisted throughout the process on advancing only a “serious, effective draft law that expands the IDF’s recruitment base,” and reiterated that such a law would only emerge from his committee.
Despite the coalition's victory, divisions remain. A rift has opened within the Hasidic Agudat Yisrael faction of the United Torah Judaism alliance. While most of the ultra-Orthodox bloc voted against dissolving the Knesset, Agudat Yisrael MK Meir Porush and another representative backed the opposition’s bid, in line with guidance from the party’s rabbinical leadership, which argued that no concrete draft law had yet been presented.
In a rare move, MK Yisrael Eichler of the Belz Hasidic sect broke ranks with his party and voted with Shas and Degel HaTorah, defying his party’s spiritual council. His decision underscored growing internal dissent over the handling of the conscription issue and the future of the government.