Netanyahu and Ultra-Orthodox Parties Move Closer to Ending Coalition Crisis

On Monday, the Knesset House Committee is set to begin debating the Basic Law on Torah Study, after an understanding reached on Sunday between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the leaders of the ultra-Orthodox parties. The meeting will be chaired by Likud MK Avichai Boaron at the request of committee chairman Ofir Katz.

The bill is very short and contains two clauses. It states that Torah study is a foundational value in Jewish tradition, and that as a Jewish state Israel attaches supreme importance to encouraging Torah study and Torah scholars. It also says that people who commit themselves to full-time Torah study for a long period should be regarded, for rights and obligations purposes, as performing significant service for the State of Israel and the Jewish people.

In return for advancing the legislation demanded by the ultra-Orthodox factions, they are expected not to support dissolving the Knesset and to return to full coalition discipline. That means regular backing for coalition votes in the plenum and committees, after weeks in which the crisis over the draft law and the daycare subsidy law strained cooperation inside the coalition.

The political backdrop is a scheduled election date of October 20. The ultra-Orthodox parties have given up entirely on the daycare subsidy bill, but still want to advance the kashrut bill if the timetable allows, and they said they will not bring down the government over it.