Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu throws his full backing behind a bill formalizing exemptions to military service for ultra-Orthodox students whose prospects will likely determine the coalition’s future.
Speaking at Sunday’s cabinet meeting, Netanyahu says the bill balances the needs of the army and Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community and implores ministers to support it.
“This law needs to pass. The time has come to put it behind us. This is my position. This also needs to be the position of the government, for the good of the country, of the ultra-Orthodox public, and for relations between the ultra-Orthodox and the secular,” he says.
His remarks come ahead of a meeting later today of the Council of Torah Sages, the United Torah Judaism party’s key decision-making body, on whether it will support the bill.
Netanyahu calls on the council to “make the right decision.” “This law is good for Israel,” he says.
Amid growing speculation on the possibility of early elections, the ultra-Orthodox enlistment bill is seen as one of the main obstacles to the coalition serving out its full term.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leads the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem on October 14, 2018. (Ohad Zwigenberg/Yedioth Ahronoth/Pool/Flash90)
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