Yisrael Beitenu Chairman Avigdor Liberman was the reason that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a right-wing government after last April’s election. He refused to join a coalition with the ultra-Orthodox parties after they refused to move ahead with the version of the Conscription Law, which passed a first reading in the Knesset in July 2018. Liberman may be an inseparable part of the Israeli right, but once again, after September’s election, it is Liberman’s firm views on issues of religion and state that are preventing Netanyahu from forming a new right-wing coalition with the ultra-Orthodox.
Indeed, at the heart of Liberman’s disagreement with the ultra-Orthodox is the Conscription Law. When a committee at the Ministry of Defense first wrote it, it received the approval, if only in principle, of the country’s ultra-Orthodox politicians. But then, when it was on its way to final approval in the Knesset, those same politicians took a tougher stance and demanded that changes be made to the law. The law stipulated that a certain number of ultra-Orthodox men would be required to serve in the military, based on the needs of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and that failure by the yeshivas to meet those numbers would result in budgetary sanctions against them. In coalition negotiations after last April’s election, Liberman insisted that the law be passed as is, without changing a single comma, while the ultra-Orthodox parties insisted on a number of changes. The ensuing deadlock prevented a new government from being formed and led to the decision to dissolve the 21st Knesset and call new elections.
