Ultra-Orthodox Parties Threaten to Move for Knesset Dissolution Unless Daycare Bill Advances

Ultra-Orthodox parties are escalating their threat against the coalition after it decided not to bring the daycare subsidies bill, known as the “Huk HaMe'onot,” to a vote on Monday, according to Walla. In response, they are pushing to dissolve the Knesset as soon as possible.

At a faction meeting of United Torah Judaism, lawmakers discussed the coalition’s refusal to advance the bill and decided to turn to the coalition chairman with a demand to move ahead with Knesset dissolution. The parties know that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to keep the government in place until October, and they see dissolution demands, alongside refusal to vote for coalition bills, as their main leverage.

The threat is complicated by the fact that the Knesset Arrangements Committee, which would set the dissolution process and the election date, is controlled by coalition chairman Ofir Katz. Still, Shas and United Torah Judaism said in a joint statement that because the daycare bill was not placed on the agenda, they would not support coalition legislation in the Knesset plenum on Monday.

The ultra-Orthodox parties have used similar pressure before. Prior to the preliminary vote on the bill, they forced coalition lawmakers to back it by threatening to support a bill for a state commission of inquiry into the events of October 7, 2023, instead of a political inquiry committee. That bill passed 44 to 33. The daycare bill would continue state subsidies for daycares even for families in which the father does not work and does not serve in the IDF, meant to protect women who want to go out to work. Under current rules, the subsidy is available only when both spouses work or study.