Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu narrowly preserved his coalition government after brokering a last-minute compromise with ultra-Orthodox parties over military conscription exemptions, staving off a parliamentary dissolution vote in the early hours of 12 June.
The Knesset (parliament) rejected an opposition-led motion to trigger early elections by 61 votes against to 53 in favour, following intensive overnight negotiations aimed at resolving the crisis over exempting Haredi men from mandatory IDF service.
After marathon talks involving Netanyahu’s envoys, Haredi leaders, and Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Yuli Edelstein, parties agreed on principles for new draft legislation.
After long discussions, we have reached agreements on the principles on which the draft of the draft law will be based.
The deal, crafted under threat of Haredi parties supporting the dissolution motion, mandates gradual conscription increases targeting 4,800 yeshiva students in Year 1 and 5,700 in Year 2, aiming to enlist 50% of eligible Haredi cohorts within five years.
Defence Minister Israel Katz’s framework underpins the agreement, proposing personal sanctions for draft dodgers, including travel restrictions, loss of housing subsidies, and revoked driver’s licences. Institutional penalties would also apply to yeshivas failing recruitment quotas.
Notably, the compromise lowers the permanent exemption age from 26 to 21–23, accelerating Haredi entry into the workforce, a concession to economists’ warnings about the exemptions’ fiscal toll.
Netanyahu’s eleventh-hour deal merely postpones a fundamental reckoning, experts warn. The agreement’s implementation remains fraught, as it must navigate ultra-Orthodox resistance and potential legal challenges. The compromise temporarily stabilises Netanyahu’s coalition but entrenches a pattern of crisis governance.
Opposition leader Benny Gantz lambasted the process as evidence Netanyahu remains “blackmailed and motivated by political considerations while being ready to sacrifice the people’s army and Israeli society.”
