A senior government official spoke to Israel National News on Monday morning and warned that the conduct of the haredi parties and Otzma Yehudit could lead to the downfall of the government in the near future.
He responded to the announcement by Agudat Yisrael Knesset members (MKs) that they would vote against some of the budget laws and the concern that Otzma Yehudit MKs would act in the same way they did last week and also vote against the budget.
Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, announced that he would not give in and that his party would continue to vote against the coalition, until the Ministry of Finance approves his demands.
This morning, the Hamodia daily reported that the Agudat Yisrael MKs are expected to vote against the bill to impose a tax on "undistributed profits," which is scheduled for second and third readings in the Knesset plenum.
If Otzma Yehudit continues to vote against the coalition, there will be no majority to pass the law.
The newspaper also clarified the reason for the conduct of the haredi Knesset members. "The most important goals for the haredi sector – the status of the draft law for yeshiva students – has not yet been legally arranged. It is well known that the haredi parties, in general, and Agudat Yisrael in particular, supported right-wing governments throughout the upheavals of the election campaigns, which occurred in recent years, and expressed total loyalty to the right-wing bloc.
They also joined the current government, which is defined as a fully right government, and have even recorded considerable achievements in various fields – housing, welfare, finance, and more – and have no interest in bringing down the government.
However, the current coalition has not yet regularized the most important goal for the haredi sector, which it clarified before entering the coalition and has done all along the way – namely the status of the draft law for yeshiva students, who are a tremendous and existential asset to the people of Israel, despite all the requests, promises and commitments – and they want to see practical decisions."