Haredi Parties Push to Dissolve the Knesset After Housing Bill Stalls

Ultra-Orthodox parties are escalating pressure on the coalition after the housing subsidies bill, known as the maonot law, was not brought to a vote on Monday. The delay came alongside reports that the coalition is considering splitting the draft-exemption bill into stages, a move Haredi leaders say they reject outright.

A senior figure in Agudat Yisrael told N12, "If the prime minister does not bring the maonot law now, there is no point in continuing this game." He said the Haredi factions want a vote on dissolving the Knesset on Wednesday, in second and third readings.

Yisrael Beiteinu faction chairman and United Torah Judaism leader Yitzhak Goldknopf reacted to the report in Kikar HaShabbat that the draft-exemption bill would first pass as a temporary emergency order, meant to prevent the arrest of draft evaders. "We are tired of tricks and stunts designed only to create headlines and spin," he said. "What the government did not do in 4 years, it certainly will not do now. We have long since woken up and we have no trust. As the great rabbis instructed us, we will insist on bringing the Knesset dissolution bill already on Wednesday."

Earlier Monday, it was reported that the Haredi parties would stop supporting coalition legislation, including a bill to establish a political investigative committee, because the maonot bill was not advanced. They are also currently blocking the communications law, arguing that the government app involved could operate on Shabbat and might include pornographic content funded by the state. On Sunday in the Knesset Constitution Committee, Goldknopf said the amendments were insufficient and demanded that the app not operate on Shabbat at all and not include inappropriate content.