Ultra-Orthodox Parties Shas and UTJ Push Israel Toward Early Election Over Conscription Exemptions

Israel’s ruling coalition moved toward an early election after fractures over ultra-Orthodox conscription, with a dissolution vote in the Knesset projected to be followed by a general election within 90 days of passage.

“Israel’s ruling coalition has submitted a call for an early election following continued fractures from government allies over the issue of ultra-Orthodox conscription”

Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera reported that the crisis began in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in July 2025 when ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism (UTJ) pulled their support unless a bill exempting their constituents from the draft was passed.

Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera said UTJ’s factions continued to back the government on important Knesset votes, but one UTJ faction, led by Degel Hatorah, demanded the government collapse, with Rabbi Dov Lando telling UTJ Knesset members, "We must work to dissolve the Knesset as soon as possible."

The same Al Jazeera report framed the stakes as military manpower pressure, citing Israel’s Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, warning that "the IDF needs more soldiers immediately" to keep fighting across multiple fronts.

It also described how Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled in 1998 that ultra-Orthodox men in full-time religious study exemptions were illegal, and that in 2024 the court ordered the government to begin actively conscripting ultra-Orthodox men, with only 1,200 recruits responding to roughly 24,000 summons so far.

ynetnews reported that Shas warned Netanyahu it would not join any future government without regulating the status of Torah students, quoting Shas chairman Aryeh Deri’s party newspaper Haderech: "We will not enter a coalition or government without regulating the status of Torah students."

ynetnews also said the coalition’s move toward elections followed a failure to pass legislation exempting tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox men from military service, and it described Shas spokesman Asher Medina warning that a left-wing government would face an "unprecedented campaign of revenge and cleansing" and a sweeping draft policy.

Al-Jazeera Net

The Times of Israel said Netanyahu’s coalition submitted a bill to dissolve the Knesset and trigger elections, while the bill did not specify an election date, and it noted that if lawmakers vote to dissolve the Knesset, elections must be held within five months of that vote passing.

The Times of Israel reported that opposition leader Yair Lapid cheered the development with a post on X saying, "we are ready, Together," referring to his electoral alliance with former prime minister Naftali Bennett.

The Times of Israel further said the coalition’s maneuvering came after Degel HaTorah announced it would push to dissolve the Knesset and advance the next general election over the coalition’s failure to pass a draft exemption law for yeshiva students.

The Times of Israël reported that the Knesset was set to hold a first vote on the state budget for 2026 on Wednesday, testing Netanyahu’s government as it faced divisions tied to the Gaza war and demands from ultra-Orthodox parties for yeshiva students to be officially exempt from mandatory military service.

“As Israel faces political turbulence and continued security uncertainty over the confrontation with Iran, a KAN 11 poll published Tuesday night found that a united Naftali Bennett-Yair Lapid political framework is the only party currently positioned to challenge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud”

The Jerusalem Post

It said the budget and accompanying economic plan had to be approved by law before the end of March, and it described how early elections could be triggered if necessary, while noting that the conscription dispute had already delayed the budget vote by forty-eight hours.

The Times of Israël said two ultra-Orthodox factions, Degel HaTorah and Shas, indicated they were likely to support the budget in its first reading, and it quoted a spokesman for Rabbi Dov Lando explaining the faction would back the budget bill in the first reading and insist the conscription law be finalized before submitting the budget bill for the second and third readings.

In response, opposition leader Yair Lapid lamented that ultra-Orthodox political leaders had set up an alternative Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee for themselves, and the report said he called it bargaining over Israel’s security encouraged by Netanyahu.

The same Times of Israël report said the IDF announced an urgent need for 12,000 recruits due to strain from the war, and it estimated about 80,000 ultra-Orthodox men aged 18–24 are currently eligible for military service but have not been drafted.