Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu summoned coalition leaders to a meeting on Sunday afternoon regarding the demand of haredi-religious parties to pass a law on exemption for yeshiva students from enlistment in the Israel Defense Forces. Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman did not attend the short meeting. Neither did Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman from the United Torah Judaism party.
The Prime Minister's Office said that "the coalition leaders' meeting was held in a good spirit. There is still no agreement among the haredi parties. The leaders of the coalition are waiting for their wording, after which they will continue discussions to resolve the crisis." The haredi parties say they won't vote for the budget without passage of the exemption law and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon has said he will quit if the budget is not passed before the Passover recess, which is currently scheduled to start at the end of Knesset business this week.