https://www.timesofisrael.com/after-compromise-haredi-parties-back-off-threat-to-disperse-knesset-trigger-elections/An opposition-backed bill to disperse the Knesset and call early elections failed to advance Thursday after ultra-Orthodox lawmakers backed away from threats to bring down the government due to a deadlock in efforts to legislate exemptions from army service for the young men of their community.
Both the Shas party and the Degel Hatorah faction within the United Torah Judaism alliance reversed their support for the dissolution bill after marathon talks netted an agreement with Likud MK Yuli Edelstein. The agreement calls for a softened version of a bill regulating mandatory enlistment requirements within the ultra-Orthodox community and punishing draft dodgers.
Edelstein, chair of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, had previously said he would only allow legislation to pass through his committee if it included sanctions against ultra-Orthodox men who flout enlistment orders.
Despite the compromise, two lawmakers from the Agudat Israel faction within UTJ still voted in favor of dissolution. Had the bill passed in its preliminary reading, it still would have needed to make its way through three more votes.
Lawmakers only voted on the bill at around 3 a.m., knocking it down 61-53.
