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ISRAEL AT WAR - DAY 615

Coalition Tensions

Ultra-Orthodox soldiers are drafted into the military at an induction center, April 28, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
May 21, 2025, 8:42 pm
Only 1,212 of the 24,000 Haredi men called up in past year have begun enlisting
Haredim continue legislative boycott for third week in effort to pressure PM to pass a law exempting yeshiva students from military service. Coalition bills removed from agenda
By Sam Sokol and Emanuel Fabian
Knesset Finance Committee chair Moshe Gafni (3rd from left) and other ultra-Orthodox lawmakers pictured in the Knesset as the 2025 state budget law is passed, March 25, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)
May 5, 2025, 11:07 pm
Haredi parties to boycott government votes over failure to pass IDF exemption law
Ultra-Orthodox MK warns that if legislation doesn’t pass during current Knesset session, ‘we will have a very big problem sitting in such a government’
By Sam Sokol
Knesset Finance Committee chair Moshe Gafni (3rd from left) and other ultra-Orthodox lawmakers pictured in the Knesset as the 2025 state budget law is passed, March 25, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)
April 24, 2025, 2:49 pm
Stymied on conscription, Haredi party declares itself free from coalition discipline
UTJ official says party ‘will not bring down the government’ but will vote independently unless progress is made on exempting yeshiva students from military service
By Sam Sokol
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (left) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attend a vote in the Knesset plenum, Jerusalem, December 31, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
April 23, 2025, 7:03 pm
Smotrich: PM ‘ultimately responsible’ for war, must occupy Gaza or lose right to govern
Far-right finance minister also spars with IDF chief Zamir over aid distribution: ‘If you are not capable, we will bring in someone who is’
By Sam Sokol
Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben Gvir chairs a faction meeting at the Knesset, February 3, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
February 5, 2025, 12:51 pm
Ben Gvir says he’ll return to government if PM implements Trump’s Gaza transfer plan
‘The ball is now in the hands of the prime minister,’ Otzma Yehudit leader says. ‘Impossible to carry out a transfer without committing war crimes,’ warns Ra’am chief Mansour Abbas
By Sam Sokol
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich addresses the Knesset plenum, January 29, 2025. (Dani Shem-Tov/Knesset)
January 29, 2025, 4:17 pm
After Shas ultimatum, Smotrich rejects ‘concessions’ on Haredi conscription bill
Recruiting currently exempt ultra-Orthodox men is ‘an existential national security necessity,’ minister declares; Haredi party members seek to downplay threat to tank coalition
By Sam Sokol
Ultra-Orthodox extremists protest and clash with police outside a conference honoring Haredi soldiers in Jerusalem, January 28, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
January 28, 2025, 9:08 pm
Shas’s Deri gives government two months to pass law exempting ultra-Orthodox from IDF
If the status of yeshiva students is not settled by March ‘we’ll go to elections,’ he warns; Shas MK Taieb says his son will go to jail rather than enlist in IDF
By Sam Sokol
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Leon and cabinet ministers pose for a picture during a special government meeting on Jerusalem Day at the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem, June 5, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
January 19, 2025, 8:08 pm
With Otzma Yehudit out of government, Netanyahu set to appoint replacement ministers
Three ministerial positions, two committee chairmanships open up after Ben Gvir pulls far-right party out of coalition; Dichter being considered for new national security minister
By Sam Sokol
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich leads a Religious Zionism faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on December 9, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
January 16, 2025, 7:08 pm
Religious Zionism says will quit coalition if no return to war after deal’s 1st phase
Smotrich’s far-right party said to demand up-front guarantees from PM; MK Sukkot: ‘In all likelihood, we will resign from the government’
By Sam Sokol
Left: President Isaac Herzog delivers a statement on the hostage release-ceasefire deal approved by Israel and Hamas on Wednesday, January 15, 2025. (Screenshot, GPO); Right: Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announces a compensation plan for evacuees returning to their homes in northern Israel, at a press conference on January 5, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
January 15, 2025, 11:30 pm
Herzog urges cabinet to support Gaza deal, as Smotrich threatens to bolt coalition
Various key coalition members back accord, but finance minister denounces ‘dangerous deal,’ conditions continued membership in government on full restart of war after truce
By Sam Sokol
Otzma Yehudit party chief Itamar Ben Gvir chairs a faction meeting in Knesset, November 18, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg FLASH90)
January 5, 2025, 6:16 pm
Coalition pulls Otzma Yehudit bills from Knesset agenda over its legislative revolt
Coalition whip says legislation proposed by far-right MKs who vote against government ‘will not receive the coalition’s support and will not be on the agenda’
By Sam Sokol
View of a plenum session at the assembly hall of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, August 14, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
August 14, 2024, 11:41 pm
Parties trade blame as coalition chaos enables opposition to defeat bill for first time
This is ‘how governments fall apart,’ declares Lapid; coalition forced to nix day’s agenda after losing vote on traffic bill; Otzma Yehudit, absent from vote, denies boycott
By Sam Sokol
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir addresses the Knesset plenum, July 24, 2024. (Noam Moskowitz/ Office of the Knesset Spokesperson)
August 5, 2024, 10:35 pm
Ben Gvir blocks ‘Rabbis Law’ for 3rd time, demands inclusion in PM’s security forum
Religious Services Law and three pieces of Otzma Yehudit-backed legislation removed from Knesset agenda, as national security minister launches attacks on both Shas and Likud
By Sam Sokol
Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu attends a Lag B'Omer celebration in Safed, on May 26, 2024. (David Cohen/Flash90)
July 22, 2024, 8:05 pm
Top religious Zionist rabbis call for scrapping ‘dangerous’ hostage deal
Clerics with sway over coalition’s hard-line flank argue risk posed by possible agreement trumps imperative to free captives; senior UTJ lawmaker Gafni takes opposite position
By ToI Staff
MK Amit Halevi (left) attends a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, July 18, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/ Flash90); Likud MK Dan Illouz attends a meeting of the Jerusalem lobby at the Knesset, May 17, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
July 21, 2024, 11:25 pm
2 Likud MKs say current hostage deal proposal would undermine government’s legitimacy
Doubling down on warning to PM, two lawmakers say they cannot be part of a coalition that fails to dismantle Hamas, removes troops from Gaza-Egypt border
By Sam Sokol
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