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Anshel Pfeffer

ByAnshel Pfeffer, Anshel Pfeffer

Analysis

Cracks deepening in Israeli coalition

November 6, 2014 11:33
2 min read

Less than two years old, the ruling coalition in Israel already looks as if it is on its last legs.

Riven by personal rivalries and ideological divides, the glue holding it together is a collective fear of early elections, which most coalition parties fear could lead to them losing Knesset seats.

Meanwhile, laws and reforms that the government has being planning are being stymied by the impossibility of gaining a majority and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's fear of offending strictly-Orthodox parties. The Charedi parties are currently in opposition but Mr Netanyahu hopes they will soon be his new coalition partners.

This week, it transpired that a much-heralded reform proposed by Yesh Atid that would have withheld funding from Charedi schools that do not teach a core curriculum of general studies will only be enacted in 2018. By then there will be another government and chances are that the reform will be kiboshed.