According to the Ynet news site, the Democrats chairman Yair Golan sent a letter to other Zionist opposition party heads \u2014 Together\u2019s Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, Yashar\u2019s Gadi Eisenkot, and Yisrael Beytenu\u2019s Avigdor Liberman \u2014 suggesting they hold a joint press conference ahead of a preliminary vote to dissolve the Knesset.<\/p>\n
\t \u201cWe must stand together, shoulder to shoulder in front of the public, look directly at the strong and determined democratic camp, and say in a clear and distinct voice that there is hope,\u201d Golan was quoted as writing.<\/p>\n He said it marked a \u201ccritical moment in history\u201d for the country and urged them to \u201cprove to the public we are united for a secure, democratic, liberal, and equal Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n No majority<\/p>\n Meanwhile, ultra-Orthodox political sources denied claims by officials close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he has managed to convince a majority of lawmakers to pass the controversial military exemption bill they have pushed for before the end of the government\u2019s term in office.<\/p>\n Haredi leaders called for the dissolution of the Knesset last week after Netanyahu informed them that his coalition wouldn\u2019t have a majority to pass the bill in the current Knesset.<\/p>\n On Tuesday evening, a senior official in the Prime Minister\u2019s Office asserted that following pressure by Netanyahu on holdouts within his coalition, enough have come around to allow the bill to move forward.<\/p>\n \u201cWe achieved the necessary majority and that is what is important,\u201d the official stated, adding that Netanyahu\u2019s staff had conveyed this message to Haredi leaders.<\/p>\n Asked about this claim, one senior United Torah Judaism figure dismissed it as \u201cnonsense,\u201d while a spokesman for Degel HaTorah chairman Moshe Gafni said that they had not received such a message. Degel HaTorah is a faction of UTJ.<\/p>\n \u201cHe doesn\u2019t need to give notice. He should just bring the bill to a vote,\u201d the spokesman stated.<\/p>\n \t On Monday, the military exemption bill was placed back on the parliamentary agenda<\/a>, with an announcement that discussions in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee would resume on Wednesday in order to prepare it for the final two readings needed for it to pass into law.<\/p>\n Haredi political sources have told the press that Netanyahu\u2019s office offered to resume discussions in the committee in an effort to postpone elections until October, while the Haredim want a September date, during the High Holidays.<\/p>\n The Haredi parties are widely reported to favor advancing elections to September 1, assessing that the presence of students at yeshivas at the start of the school year, as well as potential voters attending Selichot rituals, will allow them to effectively canvas for votes and maximize their support.<\/p>\n Some 80,000 ultra-Orthodox men aged between 18 and 24 are currently believed to be eligible for military service, but have not enlisted, despite a persistent IDF manpower shortage. The ultra-Orthodox parties have long demanded a law enshrining their communities\u2019 broad exemption from military service.<\/p>\n This effort was kicked into overdrive after the High Court in June 2024 ruled that there was no legal basis for the Haredi yeshiva students\u2019 decades-long blanket exemption from the draft.<\/p>\n \t The coalition\u2019s bill \u2014 which would ostensibly increase military conscription in the Haredi community, but ultimately enshrines continued exemptions for full-time yeshiva students \u2014 is widely seen as legally iffy and loophole-laden, generating intense resistance even among members of Netanyahu\u2019s coalition, leading to the current crisis.<\/p>\n It was taken off the table<\/a> in March following the outbreak of the US-Israeli war with Iran. However, Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Boaz Bismuth later announced he would continue to advance it, although it failed to progress due to a last-minute disagreement<\/a> with Degel HaTorah\u2019s rabbinic leadership over the bill\u2019s contents.<\/p>\n Last week, national broadcaster Kan reported that at the same time the Haredim are set on dissolving the Knesset, the government is planning to advance a five-year plan to support the ultra-Orthodox community that would include transferring hundreds of millions of extra shekels in funding for programs focused on that population.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tThe Democrats party chief Yair Golan speaks at the annual Berl Katznelson Center (BKC) conference, May 7, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni\/FLASH90)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GPOABG_7768-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tHead of the UTJ party Yitzhak Goldknopf (left) in a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, March 20, 2026. (Amos Ben Gershom\/GPO)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/F260514TA03-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tUltra-Orthodox Jewish men protest against the jailing of yeshiva students who evaded the draft outside the home of Military Police chief Brig. Gen. Yuval Yamin in Ashkelon, May 14, 2026. (Tsafrir Abayov\/Flash90)<\/p>\n
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