Jerusalem. The coalition government of the Prime Minister (PM) Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel is in crisis as the opposition has introduced a bill to dissolve Parliament on Wednesday. The reason is the anger of his ally (Ultra-orthodox or ‘Hardi’) parties. These parties have threatened that if the law exempted from military service to religious students is not passed, they will support the proposal to dissolve the KNESSET.
In recent times, there have been several rounds of talks between the leaders of the coalition so that the dispute can be resolved. This issue has been the cause of controversy in Israeli politics for decades, but it has become even more sensitive in the 21st month of war with Hamas.
Even if the proposal passes, the government will not fall immediately
Government sources still hope that there may be an agreement. On Tuesday, the Israeli media reported that an attempt is being made to postpone the proposal that dissolves the Parliament for a week. Even if this proposal is passed, the government will not fall immediately because the bill that dissolves the Parliament has to go through voting in four phases before the law is enacted.
However, both the over-ruled parties involved in Netanyahu’s alliance are very angry at this issue. In 2017, the Supreme Court of Israel termed exemption from military service to religious students as unconstitutional. Since then, many governments have not been able to pass any new law on this.
Allies were also against against
Last week, the small party ‘United Torah Judaisom’ announced that if no solution is found, it would vote in favor of dissolving Parliament. On this Monday, the big party ‘Shas’ also warned that if there is no solution till Wednesday, it will also vote in support of the proposal.
‘Government’ spokesperson Asher Medina told Israeli Public Radio, ‘We are not happy to drop the right -wing government, but now we have come to a kind of braking point. If there is no solution in the last moment, then the rule will vote in favor of dissolving Parliament.
Political crisis may pull for months
Officials say that the entire process of dissolving Parliament can last for weeks or months. The coalition has added dozens of other bills to the functions of Parliament on Wednesday so that time can be drawn. Netanyahu’s ‘Likud’ party also controls the committee that will decide how fast the proposal will move forward.
