The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, survived another attempt at dissolving the country’s parliament early on Thursday morning. Most of his ultra-Orthodox coalition partners joined him in voting against a bill that would have forced them to register for compulsory military service during the time of war.
Failure at getting the bill passed means that no other such bill to dissolve the Knesset can be submitted for at least the coming six months. This has generated strength at the side of Netanyahu and his embattled coalition.
The ultra-Orthodox parties supporting Netanyahu are curious that the government has failed to pass a law that exempted their community from mandatory military service. This issue has long divided the Israeli public, especially during the war at the Gaza Strip, which has been ongoing for more than 20 months now.
Only two of the 18 ultra-Orthodox members of the Knesset (the Israeli parliament) supported the bill that dissolved the parliament. However, most agreed to vote against the bill after Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee Chairman Yuli Edelstein said that he and the ultra-Orthodox parties have reached an understanding on the basis of the new draft law. This section will continue to discuss the new draft law over the coming week also, as told by the minister.
