Ultra-Orthodox Parties Push to Dissolve Knesset After Housing Law Stalls

Ultra-Orthodox parties in Israel are escalating pressure on the coalition after the housing subsidies bill, known as the maonot law, was not brought to a vote on Monday. A senior United Torah Judaism figure told N12, “If the prime minister does not bring the housing bill now, there is no point in continuing this game,” and said the parties are demanding a vote on dissolving the Knesset on Wednesday in second and third readings.

The anger deepened after reports that the draft exemption-from-conscription bill may be split, with the first stage approved as a temporary emergency measure to prevent draft-dodgers from being arrested. United Torah Judaism faction chair Yitzhak Goldknopf responded that the party has “had enough of tricks and gimmicks meant only to generate headlines and spin.” He added that the government has not done in four years what it is claiming it can do now, and said, “We have lost faith.”

Goldknopf said the party will stand by the demand, as instructed by leading rabbis, to bring the Knesset-dissolution bill to a vote on Wednesday. Earlier Monday, the ultra-Orthodox parties said they would not support coalition legislation, including a proposal to establish a political inquiry committee, because the housing bill was not put to a vote.

The standoff is also affecting the broadcast bill, which the ultra-Orthodox have frozen over concerns that a state app used to transmit channels could operate on Shabbat and might include state-funded pornographic content. Goldknopf told the Knesset committee on Sunday that the amendments are not enough, insisting the app must not work on Shabbat and must exclude inappropriate content.