Netanyahu under pressure as Defence Minister seeks to draft ultra-Orthodox Jews

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces one of the most significant challenges to his power since the war in Gaza began, after Defence Minister Yoav Gallant publicly called for an end to military service exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jews.

“We cherish and appreciate those who dedicate their lives to learning the Torah. However, without physical existence there is no spiritual existence,” Mr Gallant said in a televised speech on Wednesday.

“Our security challenges demonstrate that everyone must bear the burden.”

Mr Gallant said he would support a continuation of the long-standing policy only with the backing of Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, centrist ministers who joined Mr Netanyahu’s unity government after the outbreak of fighting in October last year.

In the months since Hamas’s October 7 attacks, which killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and prompted the continuing war, the debate over the role of the country’s growing ultra-Orthodox community has become increasingly bitter.

The community has been exempt from military service since 1948, when Israel was founded, even though it is compulsory for other Jews and some minority groups in the country.

There is also growing anger at the vast sums of public money spent on subsidies to allow ultra-Orthodox men to study in full-time religious schools.

Ultra-Orthodox parties, which remain committed to keeping their young men out of the military for religious reasons, make up a significant bloc within Mr Netanyahu’s ruling coalition. If they are forced to serve, their withdrawal from the government could topple his administration.

“If Netanyahu wants to still be in power by the summer, he’ll need to OK a draft exemption law,” an official from one such party told Israel’s Kan news outlet after Mr Gallant’s speech. The government has only weeks to pass a law preventing students of ultra-Orthodox religious schools from being included in the military draft.

Mr Gallant’s insistence that Mr Gantz and Mr Eisenkot must agree to extend exemptions is a significant obstacle in efforts to pass such a law. Both are former military chiefs and represent voters who are often angry that the ultra-Orthodox do not serve.

Mr Gantz welcomed Mr Gallant’s comments, saying: “All parts of Israeli society should take part in the right to serve. This is a security, national and social need.”

The issue of ultra-Orthodox service been the subject of much discussion in Israel in recent weeks, after the military announced plans to lengthen the tenure for mandatory recruits.

The military also plans to raise the age at which reservists are freed from duty, prompting several politicians to call on the ultra-Orthodox to do more to help the war effort.

While some ultra-Orthodox Jews do serve in special branches of the armed forces, it is a tiny proportion of the community, whose leaders overwhelmingly encourage men to pursue full-time religious study over military service.

Ultra-Orthodox leaders have long feared that military life would draw men away from the isolated community and its strict interpretation of Judaism.

The row is becoming one of the most politically divisive issues since October 7, when many internal debates were put on hold as the country came to terms with the worst attack on home soil in its history and rallied behind the war effort.

Ultra-Orthodox parties form a large bloc within Netanyahu’s coalition, and their withdrawal could topple it