Agudah Joins Degel, Exits Coalition Over Draft Bill

Agudas Yisrael joined its partner Degel Hatorah in issuing its resignation from the coalition government, due to not being given a conscription law that was in line with what the lawmakers were promised.

A last-ditch effort by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein to sway members of the Degel HaTorah faction of UTJ proved unsuccessful. Degel HaTorah had set a Monday night deadline for receiving promised concessions on the conscription law, but the offered terms fell short, according to the party.

Following the guidance of its spiritual leaders, Hagaon Harav Dov Lando shlita and Hagaon Harav Moshe Hillel Hirsch shlita, Degel HaTorah stated that “after the wording of the law presented this evening to the Charedi members of Knesset deviated from what was agreed upon and what the Likud and coalition had pledged, Degel HaTorah will leave the coalition and the government.” A spokesman for Harav Lando added that Harav Lando addressed Degel HaTorah lawmakers, emphasizing the “great responsibility placed on their shoulders and the Kiddush Hashem brought about by their firm stand on behalf of Torah students,” ordering their immediate resignation.

Just moments before Degel released its statement, Prime Minister Netanyahu had affirmatively responded to a reporter’s query about the coalition’s preservation, as reported by Israeli media.

Degel, with the backing of its UTJ partner Agudas Yisrael, had given Netanyahu and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein until Monday night to present an agreeable conscription law draft, threatening to withdraw from the government otherwise.

Earlier on Monday evening, a letter signed by Harav Lando and Harav Hirsch was published, accusing the government of seeking “to increase the hardship of the lives of Torah students” and repeatedly “failing to fulfill their obligations to regulate the legal status of the dear yeshiva students.” The Gedolim asserted that “participation in the government and the coalition should be immediately terminated, including immediate resignation from all positions.”

Last month, Rabbi Yitzchak Goldknopf, who leads the Agudah division, had resigned from his housing ministerial post, though other party members had remained. Shortly after Degel’s announced departure, Agudah’s Yerushalayim Affairs Minister Rabbi Meir Porush announced that his party would also leave. This decision, made after reviewing the conscription law draft, was attributed by Porush to the draft not satisfying the needs of the faction and its Gedolim.

With both UTJ factions now out, Rabbi Aryeh Deri’s Shas party remains the sole Charedi faction within the coalition.

Last month, some segments of Agudah had voted to dissolve the government over the draft law, but Degel, Shas, and most Agudah lawmakers had declined at that time. Toppling the coalition would necessitate the involvement of the Shas party, which has also expressed growing impatience with the government over the draft issue. However, even if Shas and all of UTJ were to quit, they have indicated no interest in bringing down the coalition at this juncture. The upcoming three-month Knesset recess, starting on July 27, could potentially provide Netanyahu with an opportunity to negotiate an agreement with the Charedi parties.