Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) will leave the coalition if the haredi-pushed "Draft Law" passes its first Knesset reading, the Hebrew-language Maariv newspaper reported.
The law would provide haredi yeshiva students with a full exemption from army service, instead of a deferment.
The article noted that a decision on the matter is expected to be made within the coming days, after a special Defense Ministry committee on integrating haredim into the IDF completes its task and submits its recommendations.
The haredi parties are expected to oppose the committee's recommendations, which are believed to support the need to draft haredi yeshiva students and reduce the number of exemptions currently given. This in turn is expected to make the haredi parties' desire to advance their "Draft Law," which already passed its preliminary reading, more urgent.
Their law would enshrine Torah study in the "Basic Laws" of the State of Israel, circumventing the Supreme Court's ruling that deferments and exemptions for yeshiva students are unconstitutional and making the exemptions for full-time yeshiva students permanent.
In March, the Ashkenazi-haredi UTJ party threatened to force early elections if the draft law did not pass during the Knesset's summer session. They have also stated that the coalition has "no right to exist" if their law is not passed.