Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked
Justice Minister Ayelet ShakedAIPAC

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home) on Sunday spoke at the AIPAC 2018 Policy Conference and discussed the crisis in the coalition over the draft law.

"The draft law crisis is a fake crisis,” she said, adding, "It would be irresponsible if this 'crisis' leads to elections and the toppling of a right-wing government. We have to work with our coalition partners on a compromise that everyone can live with."

She noted that none of the parties feel a real need for elections at this time. "The current government is good and does important things in security, economics, law and education. There is no reason to give the left the pleasure of toppling a right-wing government. No one can promise that the left will not come to power," she warned.

Shaked, the only woman in the Security Cabinet, also spoke about the security situation on the northern border and made it clear that Israel would not allow Iran to be based in Syria and for Hezbollah to arm itself with precision weapons.

She also congratulated President Donald Trump on the move of the American embassy to Jerusalem and thanked Ambassador Nikki Haley for her unwavering support for Israel at the UN.

Earlier on Sunday, Finance Committee chairman MK Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism) echoed Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman's call for new elections if a law permanently exempting yeshiva students from IDF service is not passed.

"I think things are being done here that are not fair in terms of the coalition, but we will wait to see if it will work out in the end. If it does not work out, we will go to elections," he said.

On Saturday night, before he left for Washington, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said there was no reason for early elections in the wake of the disagreements over the draft law.

"There is no reason for this to happen, and with some good will it will not happen. I have a good will, I hope the other partners do as well. If that is the case we will not go to elections and this government can conclude its term on time, in 2019,” he said.