Israel’s government risked collapsing overnight. What happened?
After lengthy negotiations, a dissolution motion pushed forward by opposition parties in Israel’s parliament failed to pass, in a vote that observers say posed one of the riskiest challenges to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rule yet.
The subject was the mandatory conscription of ultra-Orthodox men – a thorny issue that has long been a source of tension within the government. Some members of the government want to enlist many ultra-Orthodox men of draft age into the army, a move that Netanyahu’s most conservative coalition partners strongly oppose.
Following the October 7 Hamas attack and the need for manpower, the decade-old policy allowing Haredi men to study religion and be exempted from compulsory military service was hurled back into the spotlight.
Opposition parties brought forward the bill, citing the ruling coalition’s internal discord over this matter.
Ultra-Orthodox parties, which are key for Netanyahu’s cabinet survival, had threatened to join the opposition to vote for the dissolution of the parliament. But, following hours of mediation, Netanyahu reached a compromise, and only 53 voted in favour of the bill against a majority of 61 who opposed it.
Israel makes arrests inside Syria on suspicion of ‘terrorism’
Israel’s Army Radio is reporting that Israeli soldiers with the Alexandroni Brigade have conducted an operation inside occupied Syrian territory.
Israeli forces on Wednesday night reportedly arrested several Syrian nationals “on suspicion of involvement in terrorism” in the village of Beit Jinn, 10km (6 miles) from the Israeli border.
Israeli army says it arrests Hamas members in Syria
The Israeli military says it has conducted a military operation in Syria’s Beit Jinn area overnight, arresting an unidentified number of Hamas fighters. “The terrorists were transferred to the territory of the country for further investigation by Unit 504,” the army said in a statement.
