Goldknopf said to tell PM his party would have quit coalition over draft exemption law if not for the war

Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that his United Torah Judaism party would have quit the government long ago over military draft exemptions for Haredi men if it were not for the war, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

“We would have resigned from the government a long time ago due to the violation of promises regarding the conscription law,” Goldknopf told Netanyahu during a meeting.

The outlet does not clarify when the meeting took place.

Netanyahu promised Goldknopf during a meeting on Wednesday that he would expedite a planned law facilitating sweeping exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men from mandatory military service, according to Hebrew media reports.

Netanyahu reportedly told Goldknopf that he would push to fast-track the exemption when the Knesset reconvenes.

Goldknopf has threatened to vote against the upcoming budget several months from now if the law does not advance, which could force elections.

The dispute over the ultra-Orthodox community serving in the military is one of the most contentious in Israel, with decades of governmental and judicial attempts to settle the issue never achieving a stable resolution. The Haredi religious and political leadership fiercely resists any effort to draft young men.