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Israel's Kadima Party pulls out of ruling coalition |
Israel's centrist Kadima Party has pulled
out of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government over differences
on exemptions for conservatives from military service. According to the Wall Street
Journal, Kadima Party chief Shaul Mofaz and Netanyahu had earlier said they were
forming their coalition to create a national consensus on the contentious issue
of requiring tens of thousands of strictly religious young adults to share the
burden of mandatory enlistment instead of receiving government support for full-time
religious studies. However, eventually, Mofaz and his Kadima Party demanded a
more stringent military draft, with less time for deferrals and heavy fines for
draft dodgers, while Netanyahu favored a plan more deferential to ultra-orthodox
political parties in his coalition, who resist the change. "When it was necessary
to decide between those carrying the burden and draft-dodging, Benjamin Netanyahu
sided with the draft dodgers," Mofaz said in a news conference to announce that
he had informed Netanyahu of Kadima's withdrawal from the coalition. Netanyahu
answered Mofaz in a statement saying that he regretted the decision, but that
he favored a gradual elimination of the draft exemption that he said wouldn't
drive a rift between the insular ultra-orthodox community and mainstream Israel
. The party's departure narrows the coalition government from 94 to 66 seats in
the 120-member parliament, leaving Netanyahu more dependent on right wing and
religious parties in his coalition. |
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