JERUSALEM, Israel – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government faced a critical challenge on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, as the opposition formally submitted a bill aiming to dissolve the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. This move could potentially trigger early elections and bring down the current coalition.
The immediate catalyst for this significant political storm is the escalating tension surrounding mandatory military service exemptions for the ultra-Orthodox community. Key ultra-Orthodox coalition partners are reportedly furious over the government’s failure to pass legislation solidifying these exemptions and have threatened to support the opposition’s dissolution bill.
This issue has long been a source of deep division within Israeli society, but it has become particularly acute and emotionally charged during the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip.
A Government on the Brink
While political observers anticipate intense, last-minute negotiations to avert a crisis, the opposition’s push to dissolve the Knesset represents the most serious threat to Netanyahu’s hold on power since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 – widely acknowledged as the biggest security failure in the nation’s history.
In a strategic counter-move to the dissolution bill, coalition members reportedly flooded Wednesday’s parliamentary agenda with numerous other legislative proposals. This tactic served to pack the schedule, buying crucial time for behind-the-scenes talks aimed at finding a compromise before a potential late-night dissolution vote.
The process for dissolving parliament requires the bill to pass three additional readings in the Knesset, a legislative journey that could span several days or even weeks. Should the bill ultimately succeed, new elections would follow, though the timeline for calling and holding them could still take weeks or months. Conversely, if the dissolution bill fails its initial vote, the opposition is barred from introducing another such motion for a period of at least six months. The opposition does retain the option to withdraw the current bill if they lack sufficient support and potentially resubmit it later.
Netanyahu’s coalition relies heavily on the support of two ultra-Orthodox parties. For the dissolution bill to pass, both would need to vote in favor, highlighting the significant leverage they hold. The political maneuvering is further complicated by recent religious directives: on Tuesday, leading ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, rabbis issued a religious decree forcefully reiterating their community’s stance against mandatory military service. This decree makes it particularly difficult for Haredi politicians to compromise on the issue in negotiations.
The Core of the Draft Dispute
Military service is compulsory for the majority of Jewish Israelis. However, the politically influential ultra-Orthodox community, comprising approximately 13% of Israeli society, has historically received widespread exemptions, primarily for those engaged in full-time religious study in seminaries known as yeshivas.
The ultra-Orthodox, also referred to as Haredim – a Hebrew term meaning “God-fearing” – argue that integrating into the military environment would threaten their traditional way of life, religious observance, and separation from secular society.
The current conflict in Gaza, now in its 20th month and described as the longest active war in Israel’s history, has placed immense strain on the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), necessitating multiple call-ups of reservists. The continued exemption of a significant segment of the population, coupled with the ultra-Orthodox parties’ threat to destabilize the government during wartime, has ignited considerable anger and resentment among many Israelis, especially those who are serving or whose families are on the front lines. Since the war began, 866 Israeli soldiers have been killed, a stark reminder of the conflict’s heavy toll and the pressure on the military.
In a separate event on Wednesday, unrelated to the political crisis, Argentina’s President Javier Milei was scheduled to address the Knesset.
As negotiations continue behind the scenes, the fate of Netanyahu’s government hangs precariously in the balance, caught between wartime pressures and deep-seated societal divisions over the principle of shared national service.
