The unity government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to an end on Tuesday after the centrist Kadima party decided to quit over disagreements on the new army draft law. The decision was approved by 25 Kadima Knesset members, with only three opposed. Speaking at a press conference, Kadima Chairman and Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz said failed attempts to agree on an alternative to the law that exempts ultra-Orthodox men from serving in the Israeli army had been the reason for his decision to withdraw. "With great regret I must say that there is no alternative but to retire from this government. This issue is fundamentally important to us. I was determined to reach an understanding with Netanyahu, but we simply cannot carry on."
Mofaz (pictured with Netanyahu in May) said the prime minister's proposal to draft ultra-Orthodox men at the age of 26 did not stand at any moral criteria. There would be no social justice without equal sharing of the burden, he said, adding: “We were prepared to make historical compromises, but there cannot be a law without a duty of service and there can be no law without personal responsibility."
Kadima's departure from the government comes just 70 days after it joined forces with Netanyahu, providing him with an unprecedented power bloc of 94 out of 120 Knesset members. Netanyahu's coalition government will still have a majority of 66 members in the Israeli parliament.
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The law exempting most yeshiva students from army service is due to expire at the end of this month under a decision by Israel's high court. Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Tuesday that his ministry would formulate a “temporary legislative proposal to be submitted to the government and later to the Knesset according to the just demand for equality in the burden. This will stay in effect until permanent legislation provides a full response to the issue".
Mofaz and Kadima have been advocating an assertive approach that would force most of the ultra-Orthodox students to serve their country in the military or in civil service, with less time for deferrals and heavy fines for draft dodgers Netanyahu sought to solve the problem through consensus with ultra-Orthodox coalition partners, but Kadima argued it would pull out of the government if its demands that all Israelis serve equally were not met. "When it was necessary to decide between those carrying the burden and draft-dodging, Benjamin Netanyahu sided with the draft dodgers," Mofaz said at his press conference. The former IDF chief of staff had become chairman of Kadima in March when he defeated Tzipi Livni in a leadership contest.
Labor Party leader Shelly Yechimovich on Wednesday called on Netanyahu to dissolve the Knesset, schedule early elections and end what she described as a "two-month political circus" that had disgraced the Israeli political system.
