Netanyahu under pressure as ultra -orthodox parties are in danger of resolving the parliament

The opposition parties of Israel said they would bring a motion to dissolve the parliament on Wednesday and offer the most serious challenge to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right -wing government and raising the ghost of early elections.

If the motion passes, it is unlikely that the government will fall immediately. The parliamentary process before a definitive vote can take months, giving the Prime Minister the time to strengthen his ever -frying reigning coalition or to set up his own agenda for a return to the polls. But it would give a serious blow to his political credibility.

The opposition parties exploit a crisis within the ruling coalition about the controversial, decades of old policy that exempt ultra-orthodox men who study religion in seminars of compulsory military service.

The ultra-orthodox coalition partners of Mr Netanyahu, the United Torah Judaism and SHAS parties, are locked up in dispute with other members of the government about proposals to limit exemptions. The issue has adopted more urgency and stimulated the growing public anger and control, since the attack led by Hamas on 7 October 2023, the war of Israel in Gaza has lit.

United Torah Judaism has threatened to vote with the opposition and to say that it cannot accept the principle of drawing up seminar students. If SHAS also votes with the opposition, this can offer the majority needed to dissolve the parliament.

The coalition of Mr Netanyahu recommends a majority of 68 seats in the Knesset with 120 seats. Shas and United Torah Judaism have 18 seats between them, giving them a strong leverage.

The split in the coalition has given the most important opposition parties a political opportunity to challenge the government. Although they support the step to call in ultra -orthodox religious students, they say that their priority is to bring down the government of Mr Netanyahu and force new elections.

The government, which was formed at the end of 2022, is the right -most and religious conservative in the history of Israel. The next elections would take place in October 2026 if it would reach the full period.

If the motion is adopted on Wednesday, the bill should go to a parliamentary committee for assessment before they return to the meeting for further votes, and Mr Netanyahu and his political allies can bring that process for months.

But analysts say that even provisional approval to resolve the parliament can further destabilize his government.

“The entire system would go in a different mode – election mode,” said Aviv Bushinsky, a political analyst and a former media adviser of Mr Netanyahu. Losing a vote would indicate a lack of leadership on the part of Mr Netanyahu, he added, and an inability to control his coalition.

Gabby Sobelman Rehovot reported, Israel.