Netanyahu coalition in crisis over religious draft as war rages

A dramatic Israeli Supreme Court ruling that freezes funding to ultra-Orthodox seminaries unless their students serve in the military is forcing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to contend with its survival as the war in Gaza deepens the country’s political divisions.

Ultra-Orthodox parties in the ruling coalition, who’d been assured that their decades-long immunity from conscription would be made permanent, were in a rage, calling the decision “a mark of Cain” and threatening to exit. Those in the center who joined the war cabinet last October backed the court, citing the need for more military manpower as Israel faces threats not only from Hamas in Gaza but also from Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Since the war, the burden of carrying the ultra-Orthodox has become unbearable for large majorities of Israelis who see their abstention from military service as unfair and a drain on the economy. In essence, the two Israeli crises of the past year — mass protests over the government’s plans to weaken judicial independence and the war in Gaza — have converged into the ultimate test for Netanyahu.