Jun 12, Kathmandu - A motion to dissolve the Israeli parliament has been rejected by one vote. The motion, brought by opposition parties, was rejected in a vote in parliament on Thursday.

The vote presented Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government with its most serious challenge yet. The motion had already caused a split in the ruling coalition.

Of the 120 members of the Israeli parliament, 53, including two from the ruling coalition, voted to dissolve parliament. The remaining 61 voted not to dissolve parliament.

The opposition’s proposal failed, but it has succeeded in causing a split in the ruling coalition. By introducing the bill to dissolve parliament, the opposition parties planned to take advantage of a decades-long dispute within the ruling coalition over a policy that exempts ultra-Orthodox men studying in religious seminaries from mandatory military service.

Netanyahu’s ultra-Orthodox coalition partners are at loggerheads over a proposal to draft ultra-Orthodox men into the army. The issue has become more complicated since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack.

The ultra-Orthodox parties had threatened to vote against the coalition, even if they voted against it. If they had voted against it together, they would have had the majority needed to dissolve parliament. However, two members of the United Torah Judaism party supported the bill to dissolve parliament.