Netanyahu's Ultra-Orthodox Allies Threaten His Coalition Government
At issue was a longstanding debate in the country over whether ultra-Orthodox religious students, who have long received exemptions from military service, can be conscripted. They argue that serving threatens their way of life, but many other Jewish Israelis resent what they regard as special treatment.
The issue has become more fraught during the Gaza war. Hundreds of Israeli soldiers have been killed in the conflict, prompting accusations that the ultra-Orthodox community is sitting by while others die for them in battle.
The coalition fight is unlikely to topple Mr. Netanyahu's government immediately, analysts say. But it will inject further instability into Israeli politics as the leaders of different parties clash over a cease-fire to end the war in Gaza and as fighting continues in Lebanon and Syria.
Here's what we know about the political crisis.
How did Israel reach this point?
Most Jewish Israelis are conscripted into the military after high school, but ultra-Orthodox men are often exempted so they can study holy texts. The policy has prompted an emotional debate over whether they should have to enlist.
Many in Israel's ultra-Orthodox community — known in Hebrew as Haredim, or those who fear God — view full-time religious study as a supreme value. They argue that their scholarship has ensured the survival of the Jewish people for centuries.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Chicago Tribune
25 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
Columbia University agrees to pay more than $220M in deal with Trump to restore federal funding
NEW YORK — Columbia University announced Wednesday it has reached a deal with the Trump administration to pay more than $220 million to the federal government to restore federal research money that was canceled in the name of combating antisemitism on campus. Under the agreement, the Ivy League school will pay a $200 million settlement over three years, the university said. It will also pay $21 million to resolve alleged civil rights violations against Jewish employees that occurred following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, the White House said. 'This agreement marks an important step forward after a period of sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty,' acting University President Claire Shipman said. The school had been threatened with the potential loss of billions of dollars in government support, including more than $400 million in grants canceled earlier this year. The administration pulled the funding because of what it described as the university's failure to squelch antisemitism on campus during the Israel-Hamas war. Columbia has since agreed to a series of demands laid out by the Republican administration, including overhauling the university's student disciplinary process and applying a contentious, federally endorsed definition of antisemitism not only to teaching but to a disciplinary committee that has been investigating students critical of Israel. Wednesday's agreement — which does not include an admission of wrongdoing — codifies those reforms while preserving the university's autonomy, Shipman said. Education Secretary Linda McMahon called the deal 'a seismic shift in our nation's fight to hold institutions that accept American taxpayer dollars accountable for antisemitic discrimination and harassment.' 'Columbia's reforms are a roadmap for elite universities that wish to regain the confidence of the American public by renewing their commitment to truth-seeking, merit, and civil debate,' McMahon said in a statement. As part of the agreement, Columbia agreed to a series of changes previously announced in March, including reviewing its Middle East curriculum to make sure it was 'comprehensive and balanced' and appointing new faculty to its Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies. It also promised to end programs 'that promote unlawful efforts to achieve race-based outcomes, quotes, diversity targets or similar efforts.' The university will also have to issue a report to a monitor assuring that its programs 'do not promote unlawful DEI goals.' In a post Wednesday night on his Truth Social platform, President Donald Trump said Columbia had 'committed to ending their ridiculous DEI policies, admitting students based ONLY on MERIT, and protecting the Civil Liberties of their students on campus.' He also warned, without being specific, 'Numerous other Higher Education Institutions that have hurt so many, and been so unfair and unjust, and have wrongly spent federal money, much of it from our government, are upcoming.' The pact comes after months of uncertainty and fraught negotiations at the more than 270-year-old university. It was among the first targets of Trump's crackdown on pro-Palestinian campus protests and on colleges that he asserts have allowed Jewish students be threatened and harassed. Columbia's own antisemitism task force found last summer that Jewish students had faced verbal abuse, ostracism and classroom humiliation during the spring 2024 demonstrations. Other Jewish students took part in the protests, however, and protest leaders maintain they aren't targeting Jews but rather criticizing the Israeli government and its war in Gaza. Columbia's leadership — a revolving door of three interim presidents in the last year — has declared that the campus climate needs to change. Also in the settlement is an agreement to ask prospective international students 'questions designed to elicit their reasons for wishing to study in the United States,' and establishes processes to make sure all students are committed to 'civil discourse.' In a move that would potentially make it easier for the Trump administration to deport students who participate in protests, Columbia promised to provide the government with information, upon request, of disciplinary actions involving student-visa holders resulting in expulsions or suspensions. Columbia on Tuesday announced it would suspend, expel or revoke degrees from more than 70 students who participated in a pro-Palestinian demonstration inside the main library in May and an encampment during alumni weekend last year. The pressure on Columbia began with a series of funding cuts. Then Mahmoud Khalil, a former graduate student who had been a visible figure in the protests, became the first person detained in the Trump administration's push to deport pro-Palestinian activists who aren't U.S. citizens. Next came searches of some university residences amid a federal Justice Department investigation into whether Columbia concealed 'illegal aliens' on campus. The interim president at the time responded that the university was committed to upholding the law. Columbia was an early test case for the Trump administration as it sought closer oversight of universities that the Republican president views as bastions of liberalism. Yet it soon was overshadowed by Harvard University, which became the first higher education institution to defy Trump's demands and fight back in court. The Trump administration has used federal research funding as its primary lever in its campaign to reshape higher education. More than $2 billion in total has also been frozen at Cornell, Northwestern, Brown and Princeton universities. Administration officials pulled $175 million from the University of Pennsylvania in March over a dispute around women's sports. They restored it when school officials agreed to update records set by transgender swimmer Lia Thomas and change their policies. The administration also is looking beyond private universities. University of Virginia President James Ryan agreed to resign in June under pressure from a U.S. Justice Department investigation into diversity, equity and inclusion practices. A similar investigation was opened this month at George Mason University.
an hour ago
Israel reviewing Hamas response to ceasefire proposal
TEL AVIV, Israel -- Hamas' latest response to a U.S.-brokered Gaza ceasefire proposal is "currently being reviewed" by Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Thursday. Hamas announced Wednesday night it had submitted to mediators a response to the ceasefire deal currently on the table. The details of Hamas' response were not immediately made public. Sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News that a trilateral meeting in Italy between top Israeli, Qatari and American officials is slated to discuss Hamas's response as early as today. The U.S. State Department said Wednesday President Trump's Mideast Envoy was traveling to Italy to meet with top officials regarding a Gaza ceasefire. Representatives from Israel and the militant group have been in Doha, Qatar, for more than two weeks working on a ceasefire proposal for the 21-month-old conflict in Gaza. Those negotiations continue as more than 100 aid groups warned Wednesday that the enclave was on the verge of "mass starvation."
News24
an hour ago
- News24
Hamas responds to Israel ceasefire proposal but sticking points remain in Doha talks
Hamas confirmed on Thursday that it has responded to an Israeli proposal for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, after more than two weeks of indirect talks in Qatar have failed to yield a truce. 'Hamas has just submitted its response and that of the Palestinian factions to the ceasefire proposal to the mediators,' the Palestinian militant group said in a statement on Telegram. The response included proposed amendments to clauses on the entry of aid, maps of areas from which the Israeli army should withdraw, and guarantees on securing a permanent end to the war, according to a Palestinian source familiar with ongoing talks in Doha. Negotiators from both sides have been holding indirect talks in Doha with mediators in an attempt to reach an agreement on a truce deal that would see the release of Israeli hostages. READ | 100 aid organisations warn of mass starvation in Gaza 'cycle of hope and heartbreak' Reuters reported that Israel was reviewing a revised response from Hamas to a proposed ceasefire and hostage release deal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Thursday, as Israeli air and ground strikes continued to pound the Gaza Strip. A previous version of Hamas' proposal, submitted late on Tuesday, was rejected by mediators as insufficient and was not even passed to Israel, sources familiar with the situation said. Both sides are facing huge pressure at home and abroad to reach a deal, with the humanitarian conditions inside Gaza deteriorating sharply amidst widespread, acute hunger in the Palestinian enclave that has shocked the world. A senior Israeli official was quoted by local media as saying the new text was something Israel could work with. However, Israel's Channel 12 said a rapid deal was not within reach, with gaps remaining between the two sides, including over where the Israeli military should withdraw to during any truce. A Palestinian official close to the talks told Reuters the latest Hamas position was 'flexible, positive and took into consideration the growing suffering in Gaza and the need to stop the starvation'. Of the 251 hostages taken during Hamas' 2023 attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. But the talks have dragged on for more than two weeks without a breakthrough, with each side blaming the other for refusing to budge on their key demands. Eyad Baba/AFP For Israel, dismantling Hamas' military and governing capabilities is non-negotiable, while Hamas demands firm guarantees on a lasting truce, a full withdrawal of Israeli troops and the free flow of aid into Gaza. Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer on Wednesday accused Hamas of obstructing talks. 'Israel has agreed to the Qatari proposal and the updated (US special envoy Steve) Witkoff proposal, it is Hamas that is refusing,' Mencer told reporters, adding that Israel's negotiating team was still in Doha and talks were ongoing. The US said Witkoff will head to Europe this week for talks on a possible ceasefire and an aid corridor. More than 100 aid organisations warned on Wednesday that 'mass starvation' was spreading in Gaza. Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu via Getty Images The head of the World Health Organisation also weighed in, saying that a 'large proportion of the population of Gaza is starving'. 'I don't know what you would call it other than mass starvation - and it's man-made,' Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters. Mencer, said there was 'no famine caused by Israel. There is a man-made shortage engineered by Hamas.' President Isaac Herzog, visiting troops in Gaza, maintained that Israel was acting 'according to international law' while Hamas was 'trying to sabotage' aid distribution in a bid to obstruct the Israeli military campaign that began more than 21 months ago. An organisation backed by the US and Israel, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), began distributing aid in Gaza in May as Israel eased a two-month total blockade, effectively sidelining the longstanding UN-led system. Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images Aid agencies have said permissions from Israel were still limited, and coordination to safely move trucks to where they are needed was a major challenge in an active war zone. Mencer accused Hamas, whose attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 sparked the war, of preventing supplies from being distributed and looting aid for themselves or to sell at inflated prices. 'Aid has been flowing into Gaza,' he said but blamed the UN and its associates for failing to pick up truckloads of foodstuffs and other essentials cleared and waiting on the Gaza side of the border.
