Haredi party leaders call for dissolving Knesset & early elections over lack of IDF draft law

Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) leaders on Tuesday called to dissolve the Knesset and schedule slightly earlier elections, citing the coalition’s failure to legislate a new IDF draft law that would ensure broad exemptions from military service for yeshiva students.

The statements prompted requests by several opposition parties to expedite votes to dissolve parliament, though it remains unclear when such a vote would be scheduled or whether the opposition has the necessary support, since the other ultra-Orthodox party, Shas, has yet to signal its position on the issue.

Currently, regular elections are set to take place at the end of October.

The most significant statement came from Rabbi Dov Lando, spiritual leader of the Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox community and its affiliated party, Degel HaTorah, which is one part of the Haredi umbrella party, United Torah Judaism (UTJ).

“We have no trust in the prime minister. We no longer feel we are his partners. We are not committed to him,” Lando wrote in a statement published by affiliated party newspaper, Yated Ne’eman.

“From now on, we will do only what we believe is good for ultra-Orthodox Judaism, and in our opinion, elections should be held as soon as possible,” he wrote.

The Hamodia newspaper, which represents Agudat Yisrael, the Hasidic part of UTJ, wrote that “all components of UTJ agree there is no chance Likud will uphold its commitment to regulate the status of Torah students and will act to dissolve the Knesset.”

The new clash was reportedly triggered after associates of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Haredi representatives that a new IDF draft law would not be passed by the current government.

According to Channel 13 News, Lando called Netanyahu a “liar” for stringing the Haredi parties along for years with promises of a new law.

“We’ve had to suck it up time after time for the bloc [with Netanyahu], but they don’t understand. No more words from Netanyahu, only actions. Even if Netanyahu comes to me now and tells me one plus one equals two, I won’t believe him anymore. He is a conman,” Lando was quoted as saying.

Despite the dramatic remarks, the government is not expected to collapse immediately.

Dissolving the Knesset requires a simple majority of 61 out of 120 Knesset members in four separate votes. The earliest possible date for an election is in August. Haredi parties are reportedly aiming for September, the month of Elul and the period of Selichot prayers, which they believe will help boost voter turnout.

Netanyahu reportedly wants to delay the elections for as long as possible, hoping to strengthen his position by gaining more decisive outcomes in the fighting in Lebanon and Gaza, as well as a likely future round of the war with Iran.

According to Ynet News, other coalition partners have warned the prime minister that this would cause the campaign to overlap with the High Holidays, endangering election integrity by delaying the counting of mail votes, the response to appeals and additional checks.

Earlier this week, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir reiterated his warning that the IDF urgently needs more soldiers to handle all of its challenges. The military said it needs approximately 12,000 new recruits, most of them combat troops.

Currently, an estimated 80,000 ultra-Orthodox men aged 18 to 24 are eligible for military service but have not enlisted.

At the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Sunday, Zamir said, “I do not deal with political or legislative processes. I deal with a multi-front war and defeating the enemy. To keep doing that, the IDF needs more soldiers immediately.”