Netanyahu avoids potential election as vote to dissolve parliament fails – National [Video]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government survived an attempt to dissolve parliament early Thursday morning, with most of his ultra-Orthodox coalition partners joining him in voting against a bill that would have forced them to register for military service while the country is in conflict with Hamas.

The vote was the most serious challenge to Netanyahu’s government since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, the biggest security failure in Israel’s history and the trigger for the ongoing conflict in Gaza. The bill’s failure means that no other bill to dissolve Knesset can be submitted for at least six months, shoring up Netanyahu’s embattled coalition.

The ultra-Orthodox parties are furious that the government has failed to pass a law exempting their community from mandatory military service. The issue has long divided the Jewish Israeli public, especially during the 20-month conflict in the Gaza Strip.

Israel’s opposition had hoped that the public anger over the exemptions would help topple the …