Israel’s embattled PM holds off on early elections

— Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday threatened to take the country to early elections, but said it was too soon to do so as the scandalplagued Israeli leader manoeuvred to keep his divided coalition intact. Netanyahu’s coalition has been feuding over whether to continue granting exemptions from military service to ultraOrthodox Jewish men. But looming over Netanyahu’s speech was a mountain of corruption scandals. “If there are elections, we will contend and win, but we are not there yet. The hour is late, but not too late,” Netanyahu told a stormy parliamentary session. “We need to make one last supreme effort to preserve the longevity of this government in its current form.” Netanyahu’s religious coalition partners have demanded that the government extend the military exemptions. But rival parties have threatened to bolt the coalition over the issue, raising the possibility of early elections. Netanyahu reached a compromise with a key religious partner at a late-night meeting on Sunday. Then on Monday, a junior coalition partner, Yisrael Beitenu, said it would not support the compromise. Military service for ultra-Orthodox men is one of the most fraught topics in Israel and looked to undermine Netanyahu’s coalition government, which holds 66 out of the 120 seats in parliament. For generations, Israel has given seminary students exemptions from compulsory service. That has infuriated Israel’s secular majority, and previous attempts at compromise have been struck down by the Supreme Court. Netanyahu’s opponents have accused him of creating an artificial crisis, potentially triggering elections a year and a half ahead of schedule, in order to shore up his position as he fights the corruption allegations. The thinking is that it would be much harder to force a newly re-elected Netanyahu to step down if he is indicted in the coming months. Israel’s attorney general is expected to make a decision on an indictment by the fall. After a more than year-long investigation, Israeli police last month said they believed there was sufficient evidence to indict Netanyahu in a pair of bribery scandals. In one case, Netanyahu is suspected of accepting lavish gifts from a pair of billionaire supporters. In the other, he is suspected of promoting regulation that would benefit an Israeli daily newspaper in exchange for favourable coverage. Since then, police have opened a separate investigation into suspicions that Netanyahu, as communications minister, pushed regulation worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Israel’s national telecom company Bezeq. The company, led by a friend of Netanyahu, in return allegedly provided favourable coverage to the prime minister. That investigation is continuing, but two former Netanyahu confidants have already agreed to testify against him in exchange for leniency. Netanyahu has denied wrongdoing in all of the cases.