Parliament of Israel gears up for a dramatic confrontation. On Wednesday, the Knesset will cast an initial vote to disband itself amid a bitter conscription row. It is the first of four approvals required to activate early elections.
Surveys indicate PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, already battered by war weariness, would lose at the polls. The vote puts a spotlight on a constitutionally divided coalition, Israel’s Gaza war, and growing public discontent.
Coalition Rift Over Ultra-Orthodox Exemptions
Conservative ultra-Orthodox parties—United Torah Judaism and Shas—seek blanket exemptions for yeshiva students from military service. They threaten to support dissolution without new legislation. Their position complicates coalition unity. They argue religious study must remain exempt. Critics see this during wartime as undermining fairness.
Israel reaches its 20th month of Gaza war. The IEC states around 400 Israeli troops killed; Gaza’s casualties are close to 55,000. Support for the war is declining. Most citizens oppose the fairness of religious exemptions with the military under extreme pressure. The military urgently needs to recruit.
First Step of Dissolution: Four Votes Required
Opposition Yesh Atid and supporting parties brought the motion for dissolution. It needs to win four votes: the Wednesday first reading is the first one. If it passes, it goes to committee and needs additional readings. Each step pushes final resolution off. Netanyahu’s coalition intentionally brought many bills to delay.
Coalition leaders like Boaz Bismuth threaten that dissolving the Knesset in the middle of war would benefit Israel’s enemies. Opposition Labour legislator Merav Michaeli accused the government of being “toxic and harmful,” with the call to end the war and free hostages.
Nevertheless, the ultra-Orthodox MPs have no intention of giving in. The leaders among them have produced religious decrees against Israeli army service.
What Comes Next?
If initial approval succeeds on Wednesday, the coalition can also kill the process in subsequent rounds. They have until summer recess to agree on a compromise. Knesset regulations do not allow another dissolution motion within six months if the bill does not pass.
If the bill passes the readings, early elections would ensue within five months in Israel’s 120-seat Knesset.
War, Hostages, National Unity At Stake
PM Netanyahu’s tenure continues to be highly vulnerable. His voters hold him responsible for his war mistakes, including the October 7 Hamas attack that killed 1,200 and left 251 hostages. Israelis desire to change the subject to ending the war and releasing hostages. Dissolution would be the first election since the Gaza war broke out.
Leaders of Israel now have a challenge of crisis management, political survival, and national unity. The Knesset vote is at a turning point: restart through an early vote, or achieve a tenuous peace through negotiations within.
