Netanyahu's ultra-Orthodox alliance shows signs of fracture before crucial election

Netanyahu's ultra-Orthodox alliance shows signs of fracture before crucial election Nadav Rapaport on Thu, 08/06/2026 - 15:05 Growing dissatisfaction among ultra-Orthodox voters has exposed cracks in Netanyahu's alliance Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men protest the recent arrests of ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers, near Bet Lid military prison in Kfar Yona in central Israel on 24 June 2026 (Jack Guez/AFP) Off For nearly three decades, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has relied on ultra-Orthodox parties as one of the pillars of his political survival. But as Netanyahu gears up to one of his toughest elections in years, his governing alliance is facing unprecedented strain over the long-running dispute about military conscription for ultra-Orthodox Jewish men. The row has exposed deep divisions within Netanyahu's right-wing bloc and raised questions about whether the United Torah Judaism (UTJ) and Shas parties, two of his most dependable allies since he first became prime minister in 1996, could look elsewhere. "There's disappointment and anger within the ultra-Orthodox public over their situation," Pnina Pfeuffer, director general of the Ultra-Orthodox Public Organisation, a civil society group working within ultra-Orthodox communities, told Middle East Eye. The political future of the ultra-Orthodox parties is so unclear, she adds, that it is no longer "far-fetched" that they could join a government led by Gadi Eisenkot, Netanyahu's fiercest challenger in years. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); "Eisenkot is not perceived as anti-ultra-Orthodox," Pfeuffer said, referring to the former military chief's standing among religious voters. Avi-ram Tzoreff, an Israeli historian and human rights activist specialising in Jewish cultural, political and religious history, said the growing divide between Netanyahu's allies and the ultra-Orthodox had opened new political possibilities. "Clearly there's a rift between the ultra-Orthodox and the right," Tzoreff told MEE. Who is Gadi Eisenkot, the former army chief challenging Netanyahu? Read More » "The ultra-Orthodox are a political subject that says: 'we will rather die than be drafted'," he added, referring to a common chant heard during anti-conscription protests. "The alliance between the ultra-Orthodox parties and the right is not a given." Instead, Tzoreff argued that an Eisenkot-led bloc could exploit the divisions to dismantle what he described as the Israeli right's "unnatural political alliance" with the ultra-Orthodox. According to Tzoreff, opposition parties hoping to defeat Netanyahu need to rethink their traditional coalition strategy. "Once political relationships are organised around the drafting of the ultra-Orthodox into the military," he said, "it becomes difficult to work toward broadening coalitions." He argued that if the centre-left hopes to win power, "the centre-left needs to think about how to draw the boundaries of the political camp differently." Fractured alliance Since Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza, the question of military service for ultra-Orthodox Jewish men has become one of the country's most divisive political issues. While hundreds of thousands of reservists have been mobilised for the war, ultra-Orthodox men have historically been exempt from compulsory military service in order to pursue full-time religious studies in yeshivas.  (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The arrangement has long been contentious, but the war has intensified pressure to end the exemption. Netanyahu's coalition has repeatedly failed to pass legislation regulating ultra-Orthodox enlistment, leading to the detention of dozens of young men accused of evading military service and triggering mass protests backed by UTJ and Shas. Settler terrorism is the modern incarnation of the Zionist dream Read More » Last year, ministers from both parties resigned from government posts in protest over the coalition's failure to pass a conscription law, although they continued cooperating with the government on key legislation. The issue has also fuelled divisions within Netanyahu's own Likud party, where several lawmakers viewed efforts to pass a new draft law as an unacceptable concession to the ultra-Orthodox. Knesset member Dan Illouz, who left Likud last month over the issue, told Israeli news outlet Ynet that the right-wing bloc "has become idolatry". According to Illouz, the bloc "undermines our ability to advance right-wing economic and security policy", including ensuring the military has sufficient manpower. Ultra-Orthodox leaders, meanwhile, have increasingly questioned their long-standing partnership with Netanyahu. In May, Rabbi Dov Lando, the spiritual leader of Degel HaTorah, one of the two parties that make up UTJ, declared that "we no longer have trust in Netanyahu", adding that the party was no longer "committed to him". Last month, a senior Degel HaTorah official told Israel's Ma'ariv newspaper that "there's no such thing as a bloc anymore", adding that the party would negotiate with any political camp willing to meet its demands. Deep ideological divisions The dispute over military conscription has exposed more than just tensions within Netanyahu's coalition. It has also highlighted deep ideological divisions over Israel's military campaigns and the role of the state among the ultra-Orthodox leadership. Although Jewish opposition parties broadly agree that ultra-Orthodox men should be drafted into the military, analysts say the debate also reflects sharply different attitudes towards Israel's wars in Gaza and across the region. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Those differences were thrown into the spotlight last month when Rabbi Dov Lando, the 96-year-old spiritual leader of Degel HaTorah, launched an unusually scathing attack on the Religious Zionist movement, whose supporters have played a prominent role in Israel's war on Gaza and in the expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank. "They wage wars not for the sake of rescue, only for the sake of the state's honour," Lando said, accusing Religious Zionists of being "evil" and murderers. 'The ultra-Orthodox don't perceive the war as their own' - Pnina Pfeuffer, Ultra-Orthodox Public Organisation His remarks drew condemnation from across Israel's political spectrum, including Netanyahu, who said he rejected "the awful remarks". But the comments were consistent with Lando's long-held views. Last year, he said Religious Zionists had "brought physical disasters, not only spiritual ones, upon the Jewish people", adding that Zionist actions had created a situation in which Arabs hated Jews "like never before". Pfeuffer argued that Lando's comments should not be viewed as a direct political challenge to Netanyahu's coalition. "Rabbi Lando is expressing an ethics-based position on the situation, not a political one, and as evidence, he never demanded leaving the government over the war," she told MEE. Instead, she said the remarks reflected a long-standing ultra-Orthodox worldview that distances itself from the state's military ethos. "The ultra-Orthodox don't perceive the war as their own," Pfeuffer said, noting that during the past almost three years "life continued fairly normally" in ultra-Orthodox communities in Israel and the occupied West Bank. The Ben Gvir effect Even without immediate political consequences, Pfeuffer said Lando's intervention was significant because it offered a markedly different vision from the dominant Israeli narrative surrounding the war. "It represents moderation and restraint, which stems from a perception that our place in this land is not guaranteed and that we need to live alongside our enemies," she said. Tzoreff agreed that Lando's remarks reflected a deeply rooted theological position rather than a tactical political intervention. "If you send someone to kill in the name of the honour of the state, you're actually elevating the theological status of the state at the expense of Torah study," he said. "This isn't just a random statement. It was released to the media, and even if it doesn't currently have traction with the public, its purpose was to build traction with the public." Yet Lando's position also sits uneasily alongside a broader shift to the right within parts of Israel's ultra-Orthodox electorate. According to Pfeuffer, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has made inroads among traditional Shas and UTJ voters, complicating the political calculations of ultra-Orthodox leaders. "Part of Shas's constituency aren't classic Shas voters, they could vote for Ben Gvir or Likud, as they don't live ultra-Orthodox lives. Therefore, Shas needs to show that it is part of the right-wing bloc and with Netanyahu," she said. While she argued Shas remains considerably more committed to Netanyahu's coalition than UTJ, Tzoreff said the party has steadily drifted towards the far right since the death of its founder, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, in 2013. Shas, he said, has "undergone a process of Ben Gvirization", with hardline religious figures such as the late Rabbi Meir Mazuz assuming greater influence over the party's direction. "Rabbi Ovadia was a wedge against moving rightward," Tzoreff said. Since the revered spiritual leader's death, he argued, Shas has been "struggling to set red lines". "The party's leadership, similar to other parties, doesn't act as leadership, but acts to please public opinion." Tzoreff said the shift extends beyond Shas, pointing to what he described as increasingly close ties between the ultra-Orthodox and Israel's settler movement, as well as the growing adoption of nationalist rhetoric within ultra-Orthodox communities. Furthermore, he cited the strengthening relationship between settlers and ultra-Orthodox communities in the occupied West Bank, together with the increasing embrace of the idea that Torah study itself contributes to Israel's security. "But on the other hand, there's a strong movement against military conscription," he said. For Israel's opposition parties, Tzoreff argued, that contradiction presents an opportunity. "The role of the centre-left is to divide and conquer within the right-wing bloc," he said. Rather than ruling out cooperation with the ultra-Orthodox parties, he said opponents of Netanyahu should consider engaging with them pragmatically. "They need to consider partnership with the UTJ and Shas not out of idealisation of the ultra-Orthodox, but because there's a space that can be played politically." Inside Israel Tel Aviv News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0

Published by Section Feed · Thu, 06 Aug 2026 15:14:24 GMT

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