Decision to Exempt Ultra-Orthodox from Military Service Threatens Netanyahu’s Coalition

An Israeli soldier on a tank near the Lebanese border on April 7 (EPA)
An Israeli soldier on a tank near the Lebanese border on April 7 (EPA)
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Decision to Exempt Ultra-Orthodox from Military Service Threatens Netanyahu’s Coalition

An Israeli soldier on a tank near the Lebanese border on April 7 (EPA)
An Israeli soldier on a tank near the Lebanese border on April 7 (EPA)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to implement the terms stipulated by his extremist allies relating to expanding the Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories and exempting ultra-Orthodox Jews from military service.

Following the developments, protest leaders against the government issued statements calling for the expansion of demonstrations, and officers and reservists threatened to abstain from military service.

Informed political sources said that assessments within the Israeli army showed that passing those provisions would lead to an immediate reaction from the Palestinians, who will respond with a significant escalation rejecting settlements, and reservists who threatened to leave the military service.

Observers are concerned that about half of the pilots and navigators in the air force wouldn’t report for regular service.

Military editor of the Haaretz newspaper Amos Harel warned that it would quickly make the forces incapable of taking part in a war if one were to erupt, considerably eroding the force’s operational capacity.

He indicated that such a phenomenon might also spread to career army personnel.

“The commanders of critical units say that many of their career people have already said they won’t be extending their service and would even intend to quit immediately if the legislation is passed. One can assume there would be similar developments in other branches of the security establishment.”

Harel noted that the assessment in Israel is that a long and turbulent political summer awaits us. This feeling is accompanied by the lingering possibility of a broader military confrontation following the security escalation seen in recent months.

Despite suspending the judicial reform legislation announced by Netanyahu, many forces in the government are still calling for its continuation immediately after the holidays.

Harel warned that the coalition partners have numerous demands, some related to the judicial overhaul legislation, but implementing them is liable to put Netanyahu on a collision course with the outside world.

“All of the bad consequences of the legislation that the protesters warn against remain in place and may even intensify. The Biden administration isn’t concealing its fierce opposition to the change in Israel’s democratic form of government,” he said.

Israeli media discussed army and intelligence leaks about a possible war, saying the leaks were deliberate.

He noted that former Defense Minister Benny Gantz is under pressure to join the government to prevent it from failing.

Harel said that “if there were a major military confrontation, it’s difficult to know whether the two former Israeli chiefs of staff, Gantz and his party colleague Gadi Eisenkot, would constrain themselves from such a call to action."

"It’s hard to replace military DNA that has been cultivated for more than 30 years with more calculated and sober political DNA. When the cannons roar, the generals join government coalitions.”

Netanyahu had agreed to grant a complete exemption from military service to the ultra-religious group and limit the period for reporting their decision to 23 instead of 26, meaning they could go out for work after it.

Faced with the threat of a revolution within the army, Netanyahu proposed doubling the amount of “pocket money” given to the soldiers and converting it into salaries of 6,000 shekels ($1,666) per month, which is higher than the minimum wage.

The protest leaders considered this measure a bribe to the soldiers so that they would be silent about the exemption for the ultra-orthodox, noting that soldiers serving in the army would not accept the money for their sacrifices.



US Lawmakers’ Bipartisan Taiwan Visit Signals Support Despite Harsh Words and Tariffs from Trump

 US Senator Pete Ricketts, right, and Chris Coons are interviewed by the Associated Press in Taipei, Taiwan, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP)
US Senator Pete Ricketts, right, and Chris Coons are interviewed by the Associated Press in Taipei, Taiwan, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP)
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US Lawmakers’ Bipartisan Taiwan Visit Signals Support Despite Harsh Words and Tariffs from Trump

 US Senator Pete Ricketts, right, and Chris Coons are interviewed by the Associated Press in Taipei, Taiwan, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP)
US Senator Pete Ricketts, right, and Chris Coons are interviewed by the Associated Press in Taipei, Taiwan, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP)

Republican and Democratic lawmakers made their first trip to Taiwan under the new Trump administration a bipartisan one, aiming to show both Taiwan and China that US support for Taiwan's defense remains broad, despite the harsh words and harsh tariffs President Donald Trump has had for the Taiwanese.

Taiwan's leaders so far in this week's trip by two Republican and one Democratic senator are messaging back just as hard, assuring the Republican US administration that they have taken in Trump's complaints and are acting on them.

Many Asia-Pacific nations are eschewing the retaliatory criticism and tariffs of some of the US's European allies after Trump earlier this month slapped broad tariffs on many countries around the world, including a 32% one for Taiwan.

Despite that hit, conversations in Taiwan this week were “optimistic and forward-looking,” Democratic Sen. Chris Coons said in Taipei. “And I'm optimistic that we're going to see a strong next chapter in US-Taiwan relations.”

That includes assurances from the Taiwanese that they are working fast to strike new trade and investment deals that suit the Trump administration, on top of the advanced-semiconductor giant's $100 billion investment this year alone in chip production in the US.

Taking all the lessons from Ukraine in its defense against Russia and criticism from Trump, Taiwan also says it is investing fast to make their military stronger, nimbler and less dependent on the US, as the island's strongest deterrent against China, the US lawmakers said. That includes seeking investment with Americans on drone warfare.

Sens. Pete Ricketts and Coons, the ranking Republican and Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's East Asia subcommittee, spoke ahead of scheduled talks Friday with President Lai Ching-te, Defense Minister Wellington Koo and national security adviser Joseph Wu. Republican Sen. Ted Budd also is on the trip.

The mission comes at a time that an economy-shaking trade war between the US and China has some warning that China could strike out at Taiwan, a self-governed island with a vibrant democracy and the world's top production of the most advanced semiconductors. China claims Taiwan as its territory, to be retaken by force if necessary.

Trump has repeatedly accused Taiwan of “stealing” the United States’ computer chip industry. His criticism of Taiwan, and his insistence last year that “Taiwan should pay us” for its defense, have heightened concern that the US, Taiwan’s strongest military partner, might decide not to get too involved if China were ever to attack Taiwan.

The 32% tariffs on Taiwan included in Trump’s sweeping new tariffs on trade partners this month surprised many Taiwanese, who thought that their government had shown itself a true ally to Washington.

“Look past the rhetoric and look at the action,” Ricketts said, repeating a watchword of the Republicans on Trump’s statements.

After saying he was in no rush to finish trade deals, the president said he thought he could wrap up talks “over the next three or four weeks.”

Ricketts cited the priority that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has placed on helping the Asia-Pacific secure itself against China. That included making the region one of the first he visited in office, Ricketts said.

Ricketts said Taiwan's leaders already had reached out to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick for negotiations, moving quickly in the 90-day pause that Trump announced before the United States starts enforcing the new tariffs on most countries.

Lai, Taiwan's president, has pledged to increase Taiwan's military spending to 3% of its gross domestic product, up from about 2.5%, bringing it up to nearly a fifth of its overall budget. Taiwan also is talking to Americans about partnerships in producing drones, part of taking a lesson from Ukraine in its defense against Russia in emphasizing fleet fighting forces working with portable Stingers, lawmakers said.

Taiwan's own defense industry is also producing advanced weapons from submarines to small arms and anti-air missiles.

“Of course, there is the possibility that Xi Jinping would decide that this is the right time for the Chinese Communist Party to take aggressive action,” Coons said of the Chinese president.

“I think it’s exactly the wrong thing for them to do,” Coons said. “I think they would find a forceful and united response.”