Israel's parliament approved a bill on Wednesday to dissolve itself, potentially bringing forward by a few weeks the next national election, which surveys predict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will lose.
The vote came now because an ultra-Orthodox Jewish faction, traditionally a close political ally of Netanyahu, announced this month that it no longer sees the prime minister as a partner and will seek an early election.
The ultra-Orthodox leaders said they were doing this because Netanyahu's coalition had not kept a promise to pass a law that would exempt their community from mandatory service in Israel's conscript military. At the same time, opposition parties have long sought to topple Netanyahu's government.
Polls have since consistently shown Netanyahu's governing coalition falling far short of a parliamentary majority. However, there is also a chance that opposition parties will fail to form a coalition, leaving Netanyahu at the head of an interim government until the political stalemate is broken.
Comes a bit of a surprise it feels like, though I haven't personally been up-to-date on the Knesset itself, only world politics as a whole. Maybe Netanyahu wants to bail before it all goes south?...
Comes a bit of a surprise it feels like, though I haven't personally been up-to-date on the Knesset itself, only world politics as a whole. Maybe Netanyahu wants to bail before it all goes south?
Also feels a bit iffy that the religious want to be exempt from something that is 'mandatory'. Feels a bit holier than thou. Don't call it mandatory then.
Having seen how Ben Gvir was seen in that recent video on the folks getting rounded up from the floatilla I can only hope that some less extreme folks get a say in the politics of tomorrow. Wishful thinking I guess.
The ultrareligious in Israel have been exempted from a lot of other social responsibilities because they're the babymakers. They're the only Israeli Jewish demographic that's above replacement...
The ultrareligious in Israel have been exempted from a lot of other social responsibilities because they're the babymakers. They're the only Israeli Jewish demographic that's above replacement rate, and thus the only group that's keeping Israel as a predominantly Jewish state for now. Per the linked article:
The study mentions that there will be a significant decrease in fertility rates by 2030, with secular Jewish women projected to have 1.7 children by then.
Among religious women, including traditional-religious women, fertility is projected to decline to about 2.3 children per woman, and among Haredi women, it is projected to decline to 4.3 children per woman, up to the year 2040.
In the Arab Israeli society, there is an expected parallel trend that projects a decline to 2.7 among religious women and to 2.0 among non-religious women by the next decade.
Outside of the Haredi Jews, Jewish population growth in Israel is already lower than Arab population growth in Israel. While the Jewish population is 75% of the total, that's a percentage that's going to decrease over time. It also means that Haredi Jews as a percentage of all Israeli Jews is growing, and they will be the majority of all Israeli Jews by 2060 at current rates. Part of why Israel is pushing so hard into Lebanon with such complete razing of their infrastructure is to claim more space for settlements. I imagine that for a lot of Israeli Jews, the thought of being in the minority in Israel feels like an existential threat.
It's possible there will be some other path forward without Netanyahu at the helm, but it would be a big divergence from their current direction.
At Israel’s founding, the Haredim made up a much smaller proportion of the population. It really would’ve been an exemption then. Now it just seems like a loophole.
Comes a bit of a surprise it feels like, though I haven't personally been up-to-date on the Knesset itself, only world politics as a whole. Maybe Netanyahu wants to bail before it all goes south?
Also feels a bit iffy that the religious want to be exempt from something that is 'mandatory'. Feels a bit holier than thou. Don't call it mandatory then.
Having seen how Ben Gvir was seen in that recent video on the folks getting rounded up from the floatilla I can only hope that some less extreme folks get a say in the politics of tomorrow. Wishful thinking I guess.
The ultrareligious in Israel have been exempted from a lot of other social responsibilities because they're the babymakers. They're the only Israeli Jewish demographic that's above replacement rate, and thus the only group that's keeping Israel as a predominantly Jewish state for now. Per the linked article:
Outside of the Haredi Jews, Jewish population growth in Israel is already lower than Arab population growth in Israel. While the Jewish population is 75% of the total, that's a percentage that's going to decrease over time. It also means that Haredi Jews as a percentage of all Israeli Jews is growing, and they will be the majority of all Israeli Jews by 2060 at current rates. Part of why Israel is pushing so hard into Lebanon with such complete razing of their infrastructure is to claim more space for settlements. I imagine that for a lot of Israeli Jews, the thought of being in the minority in Israel feels like an existential threat.
It's possible there will be some other path forward without Netanyahu at the helm, but it would be a big divergence from their current direction.
At Israel’s founding, the Haredim made up a much smaller proportion of the population. It really would’ve been an exemption then. Now it just seems like a loophole.