Shas walkout pushes Netanyahu closer to political collapse
3 Min Read
Shas' resignation from government posts has deepened the crisis that Netanyahu's collapsing coalition is facing.
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Lawmakers attend a session of the Knesset, "Israel's" parliament, in occupied al-Quds, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP)
"Israel's" ruling coalition continues to splinter as members of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party resigned from their government posts on Wednesday, protesting what they described as a betrayal of promises to shield their community from forced military conscription.
The move comes just two days after United Torah Judaism (UTJ), the other major ultra-Orthodox faction, fully withdrew from the government, exiting both executive roles and parliamentary support. This has left Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's regime on the brink of collapse amid its ongoing genocidal war on Gaza.
Shas officials, while stepping down from their ministerial portfolios, have not yet withdrawn parliamentary backing for Netanyahu, offering him a narrow lifeline in a rapidly deteriorating political environment. Their public rebuke, however, deepens the fractures within a coalition originally cobbled together in 2022 through an alliance of Likud, extremist settler factions, and religious parties.
The immediate crisis stems from Netanyahu's failure to pass legislation formalizing draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men, exemptions that have existed since the occupation's founding. With the Israeli army struggling to replenish its ranks nearly two years into its brutal campaign against Gaza, it has turned to once-protected Haredi communities for conscription, igniting fierce resistance.
Netanyahu cornered
Meanwhile, Netanyahu is battling on another front: his own political survival and possible incarceration. His corruption trial, delayed repeatedly since its launch in 2020, resumed earlier this month.
He faces charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust across three cases involving luxury gifts, media manipulation, and regulatory favors for allies. If convicted, Netanyahu could face up to 10 years in prison. With his coalition eroding and legal immunity no longer guaranteed, the prospect of imprisonment looms closer.
UTJ's full withdrawal earlier this week has already cut Netanyahu's effective Knesset control to 61 seats. Should Shas revoke its parliamentary support as well, the coalition would be reduced to roughly 49 seats out of 120, triggering legislative paralysis and potential collapse.
Read more: Netanyahu government crumbles as UTJ walks out over draft betrayal
Opposition leader Yair Lapid on Tuesday seized on the political unraveling to demand early elections, declaring, "A minority government cannot send soldiers to the battlefield... It is not a legitimate government." His remarks echo mounting discontent within Israeli society, where conscription debates have fueled division and rising casualties have eroded support for the regime's war agenda.
Cracking Zionism
Over 58,000 Palestinians have been slaughtered since October 2023 in the unrelenting Israeli assault on Gaza. Entire neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble, hospitals and schools have been deliberately targeted, and starvation is being used as a weapon of war under the blockade.
Meanwhile, nearly 900 Israeli soldiers have been killed in a campaign that even military leaders now privately admit has failed to achieve any meaningful strategic goals.
The issue of ultra-Orthodox military exemptions has become a flashpoint as the regime scrambles for more conscripts. Secular Zionists, many of whom have lost family members in the war of aggression, are increasingly unwilling to tolerate the long-standing deal that shields religious students from service.
Yet, for the Haredi community, the draft represents a spiritual affront and persecution, terms explicitly invoked by Shas leader Michael Malchieli upon resigning Wednesday.
