By Staff, Agencies

The Zionist regime’s so-called ‘Housing and Construction Minister’ Yitzhak Goldknopf, head of the United Torah Judaism party, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition could collapse if a ‘law’ that exempts members of the ultra-Orthodox community from military service does not pass, in remarks set to be published in Haredi media Thursday.

“If the [military] draft outline is not settled, the government will fall apart,” the headline for Goldknopf’s interview with the Mishpacha weekly magazine read.

The remarks came as Netanyahu’s ultra-Orthodox allies have turned up the heat on this divisive issue in recent days.

Haredi Knesset [‘Israeli’ parliament] members have leveraged the upcoming vote on the 2023-2024 budget in late May to push for progress on the exemption ‘law.’ The budget must be passed by May 29 to prevent the Knesset’s automatic dissolution, resulting in snap elections.

The coalition agreement between Likud and UTJ stipulates that a ‘Basic Law’ enshrining Torah study as “a foundational value in the heritage of the Jewish people” and ‘legislation’ allowing for blanket exemptions from the ‘Israeli’ military service for ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students would pass before the budget was brought to a vote.