Second ultra-Orthodox party quits Israeli cabinet
The Shas party said it was abandoning the cabinet to protest against MPs' failure to guarantee future exemption from military service for religious students.
"Shas representatives ... find with a heavy heart that they cannot stay in the government and be a part of it," the group said in a statement, a day after the United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party also announced its walkout.
However, unlike the UTJ, a Shas spokesman said the party was not leaving the parliamentary coalition, leaving Netanyahu with a razor-thin majority.
The move means Netanyahu does not face early elections, nor does it undermine his efforts to secure a possible Gaza Strip ceasefire.
Israel's parliament starts a three-month summer recess on July 27, giving Netanyahu time to try to resolve the long-standing problem over whether ultra-Orthodox students should continue to be exempt from military service.
UTJ has seven seats in the Knesset, the 120-seat Israeli parliament, while Shas holds 11.
The issue of conscripting highly religious Israeli men into the military has been a long-standing point of tension for Netanyahu's nationalist religious coalition.
It has returned to the agenda due to the war in the Gaza Strip, with commanders warning of an urgent shortage of combat-ready soldiers.
While members of ultra-Orthodox communities have been exempt from compulsory military service for decades, the exemption expired last year, and the government did not pass a new law to cement the special status.
The Supreme Court issued a judgement last year that ultra-Orthodox Jewish men must be conscripted into military service.
Many ultra-Orthodox Jews see military service as a threat to their pious lifestyle, partly because women and men serve together.
with DPA
An ultra-Orthodox party has quit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet following a similar move earlier this week but left the door open to return if a dispute over military conscription is resolved.
The Shas party said it was abandoning the cabinet to protest against MPs' failure to guarantee future exemption from military service for religious students.
"Shas representatives ... find with a heavy heart that they cannot stay in the government and be a part of it," the group said in a statement, a day after the United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party also announced its walkout.
However, unlike the UTJ, a Shas spokesman said the party was not leaving the parliamentary coalition, leaving Netanyahu with a razor-thin majority.
The move means Netanyahu does not face early elections, nor does it undermine his efforts to secure a possible Gaza Strip ceasefire.
Israel's parliament starts a three-month summer recess on July 27, giving Netanyahu time to try to resolve the long-standing problem over whether ultra-Orthodox students should continue to be exempt from military service.
UTJ has seven seats in the Knesset, the 120-seat Israeli parliament, while Shas holds 11.
The issue of conscripting highly religious Israeli men into the military has been a long-standing point of tension for Netanyahu's nationalist religious coalition.
It has returned to the agenda due to the war in the Gaza Strip, with commanders warning of an urgent shortage of combat-ready soldiers.
While members of ultra-Orthodox communities have been exempt from compulsory military service for decades, the exemption expired last year, and the government did not pass a new law to cement the special status.
The Supreme Court issued a judgement last year that ultra-Orthodox Jewish men must be conscripted into military service.
Many ultra-Orthodox Jews see military service as a threat to their pious lifestyle, partly because women and men serve together.
with DPA
An ultra-Orthodox party has quit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet following a similar move earlier this week but left the door open to return if a dispute over military conscription is resolved.
The Shas party said it was abandoning the cabinet to protest against MPs' failure to guarantee future exemption from military service for religious students.
"Shas representatives ... find with a heavy heart that they cannot stay in the government and be a part of it," the group said in a statement, a day after the United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party also announced its walkout.
However, unlike the UTJ, a Shas spokesman said the party was not leaving the parliamentary coalition, leaving Netanyahu with a razor-thin majority.
The move means Netanyahu does not face early elections, nor does it undermine his efforts to secure a possible Gaza Strip ceasefire.
Israel's parliament starts a three-month summer recess on July 27, giving Netanyahu time to try to resolve the long-standing problem over whether ultra-Orthodox students should continue to be exempt from military service.
UTJ has seven seats in the Knesset, the 120-seat Israeli parliament, while Shas holds 11.
The issue of conscripting highly religious Israeli men into the military has been a long-standing point of tension for Netanyahu's nationalist religious coalition.
It has returned to the agenda due to the war in the Gaza Strip, with commanders warning of an urgent shortage of combat-ready soldiers.
While members of ultra-Orthodox communities have been exempt from compulsory military service for decades, the exemption expired last year, and the government did not pass a new law to cement the special status.
The Supreme Court issued a judgement last year that ultra-Orthodox Jewish men must be conscripted into military service.
Many ultra-Orthodox Jews see military service as a threat to their pious lifestyle, partly because women and men serve together.
with DPA
An ultra-Orthodox party has quit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet following a similar move earlier this week but left the door open to return if a dispute over military conscription is resolved.
The Shas party said it was abandoning the cabinet to protest against MPs' failure to guarantee future exemption from military service for religious students.
"Shas representatives ... find with a heavy heart that they cannot stay in the government and be a part of it," the group said in a statement, a day after the United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party also announced its walkout.
However, unlike the UTJ, a Shas spokesman said the party was not leaving the parliamentary coalition, leaving Netanyahu with a razor-thin majority.
The move means Netanyahu does not face early elections, nor does it undermine his efforts to secure a possible Gaza Strip ceasefire.
Israel's parliament starts a three-month summer recess on July 27, giving Netanyahu time to try to resolve the long-standing problem over whether ultra-Orthodox students should continue to be exempt from military service.
UTJ has seven seats in the Knesset, the 120-seat Israeli parliament, while Shas holds 11.
The issue of conscripting highly religious Israeli men into the military has been a long-standing point of tension for Netanyahu's nationalist religious coalition.
It has returned to the agenda due to the war in the Gaza Strip, with commanders warning of an urgent shortage of combat-ready soldiers.
While members of ultra-Orthodox communities have been exempt from compulsory military service for decades, the exemption expired last year, and the government did not pass a new law to cement the special status.
The Supreme Court issued a judgement last year that ultra-Orthodox Jewish men must be conscripted into military service.
Many ultra-Orthodox Jews see military service as a threat to their pious lifestyle, partly because women and men serve together.
with DPA
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The Age
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7NEWS
11 hours ago
- 7NEWS
Two Australians among civilians on Gaza-bound aid ship Handala intercepted by Israel
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ABC News
12 hours ago
- ABC News
Israeli troops board Gaza-bound activist boat in international waters, two Australians onboard
Israeli troops have boarded an aid ship being sailed towards Gaza by the activist group Freedom Flotilla, taking its crew into custody, including two Australians. The ship had been on course to try to break an Israeli naval blockade of the territory, where starvation is taking hold among the Palestinian population in what the World Health Organization has labelled a man-made crisis. In a message on social media, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition declared the ship, named the Handala, had been "attacked by the Israeli occupation in international waters". "The 'Handala' was operating under international law, outside of Israeli jurisdiction, carrying parliamentarians, labour leaders, journalists, lawyers, and organisers," the group wrote in a later post. An online tracking tool set up to plot the Handala's course showed its position as roughly 50 kilometres from the Egyptian coast and 100 kilometres west of Gaza when it was intercepted, which would place the ship well outside Israel's territorial waters. The Israeli foreign ministry confirmed the Israeli navy had boarded the ship, releasing a statement saying the Navarn — an alternative name for the Handala — had been stopped from "illegally entering the maritime zone of the coast of Gaza". "The vessel is safely making its way to the shores of Israel. All passengers are safe," the ministry posted on X. Israel had earlier vowed to enforce its blockade of Gaza, and its statement confirming the ship's boarding said attempts to breach the blockade were "dangerous, unlawful, and undermine ongoing humanitarian efforts". A live stream of the ship's voyage being broadcast by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition showed the crew of activists sitting on deck, holding their hands up and whistling the Italian anti-fascist song Bella Ciao as the soldiers took control of the vessel. The video feeds were cut minutes later. Among the 21 people onboard the ship — which included 19 activists from 12 countries, plus two journalists from Al-Jazeera — were two Australians, Tan Safi and Robert Martin. Freedom Flotilla released pre-recorded video statements from the pair after the ship was boarded. "I've been abducted and taken against my will by the Israeli military, or forces of a country that enables, profits from or protects Israel's genocide and starvation of Palestinians in Gaza," Safi said in their statement. Also on board the ship were two French parliamentarians, Emma Fourreau and Gabrielle Cathala. Their party leader, Jean-Luc Melenchon of France Unbowed (LFI), condemned Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and demanded that the French government take action. "Netanyahu's thugs boarded Handala. They attack 21 unarmed people in territorial waters where they have no right. A kidnapping in which two French parliamentarians are victims," he posted on X. The last boat sent by the Freedom Flotilla, the Madleen, was intercepted by the Israeli navy in international waters on June 9 and towed to the Israeli port of Ashdod. It carried 12 campaigners, including prominent Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who was eventually expelled from Israel. The Handala's crew said in a post on X that they would go on a hunger strike if the Israeli army intercepted the boat and detained its passengers. AFP/ABC
