From the Liveblog of
Thursday, July 17, 2025
UTJ lawmakers forced out as resigning ministers reclaim Knesset seats
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
United Torah Judaism MKs Moshe Roth, Yitzhak Pindrus and Eliyahu Baruchi are being pushed out of the Knesset under the so-called Norwegian Law, after resignations tendered by party ministers earlier this week come into effect.
The Norwegian Law allows ministers and deputy ministers from large factions to resign from the Knesset, with their seats then filled by other members of their parties.
UTJ announced it was quitting both the government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition on Monday evening as part of an ongoing struggle over the conscription of yeshiva students, with Jerusalem Affairs Minister Meir Porush, Deputy Transportation Minister Uri Maklev and Deputy Culture Minister Yaakov Tessler all tendering their resignations the following day.
The ultra-Orthodox Shas party partially followed suit, resigning from the government but saying it would remain part of the ruling coalition on Wednesday evening.
Roth told The Times of Israel yesterday there was “a very serious chance” that the two ultra-Orthodox parties could move to dissolve the Knesset, even during the upcoming parliamentary recess, over the “strong mistrust” created by Netanyahu’s failure to pass a law exempting yeshiva students from the IDF.
“I cannot be sure what will trigger it, what will be the straw that will break the camel’s back, but we’re getting there,” he said.
The Knesset is set to enter a nearly three-month-long recess on July 27. It will reconvene on October 19 for the winter session.
The Times of Israel Community.