"What’s Happening in Israel – The Top 5 Stories in Israel Recently"
Israeli media recently focused on five key issues: tensions over Haredi draft exemptions, progress in Gaza ceasefire talks, Israeli strikes in Syria to defend Druze communities, rising Iranian espionage inside Israel, and growing public frustration with Netanyahu’s war strategy. These developments reflect deep shifts in Israeli society and politics.
1/6 1. Haredi Draft Crisis Splits Coalition
The Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) parties - United Torah Judaism and Shas - exit Netanyahu’s government over military draft reforms.
After ongoing coalition negotiations between Israel’s Haredi parties and the Netanyahu-led government over the always contentious refusal of the Haredi parties to end draft exemptions for Yeshiva (seminary) students, leaving Netanyahu with a narrow Knesset majority.
The move, while largely symbolic for now, signals a deep fracture in Netanyahu’s coalition and growing pressure from within Israeli society to end ultra-Orthodox draft exemptions. The public mood is increasingly unified around the principle of shared national burden.This adds to the coalition instability and could trigger early elections, deepening sectarian divides during wartime.
It is important to note that the parties left the government but not the coalition and have no exited the Knesset.
What this means - Netanyahu will delay elections with short-term compromises but trust between Likud and the Haredi parties is weakening. A future realignment—possibly around Gantz or a new centrist bloc—is more likely post-war. Some analysts suggested the timing is meant as a warning and a symbolic move, as not much is expected to happen with the upcoming July 27 Knesset recess for the summer.
Sources: The Times of Israel, Jerusalem Post
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