Israel’s far-right religious party, the Shas Party, has decided to withdraw from the ruling coalition led by Netanyahu.
This comes after the United Torah Judaism party (UTJ) announced its withdrawal, making Shas the second far-right religious party to leave the coalition. If both parties ultimately confirm their exit, the ruling coalition’s seats in parliament will fall below the majority threshold, putting Netanyahu’s government at risk of collapse.
According to The Times of Israel, the Shas Party announced earlier in the day that, given the current government’s "serious and unacceptable damage" to the status of the Jewish core text, the Torah, its relevant committee would convene an “important discussion” regarding the party’s future in government. Following the meeting, the relevant committee decided to withdraw from the ruling coalition.
The report said that for now, the party will not push for an early parliamentary election.
The UTJ party announced its withdrawal from the ruling coalition on the night of the 14th, accusing the ruling coalition of failing to deliver on its promise to legislate an exemption from military service for Ultra-Orthodox Jews.
The Israeli parliament has a total of 120 seats. UTJ and Shas hold 7 and 11 seats respectively. For the ruling coalition, which has 68 seats, these two parties play an important role in maintaining a parliamentary majority. Normally, parties seeking to leave Israel’s ruling coalition must fulfill certain political and procedural steps.