Netanyahu: Conscription crisis with Haredim may topple government

Netanyahu dismissed the notion that he is interested in a coalition crisis in order to give him a reason to call an early election.

By HERB KEINON
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
WASHINGTON – The coalition crisis revolving around Haredi conscription could bring down the government, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted on Monday.
Netanyahu, at a briefing with reporters after meeting with US President Donald Trump, said, “I want to come to an agreement that will enable the government to fulfill its term until November 2019, but at the present time I can’t say that this goal is achievable.”
The prime minister said that he, and even more so his chief of staff Yoav Horowitz, have been dealing with the crisis since arriving in the US on Sunday, and have had frequent conversations with United Torah Judaism chairman Ya’acov Litzman, as well as with other coalition partners.
Netanyahu dismissed the notion that he is interested in a coalition crisis in order to give him a reason to call an early election before Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit makes a decision to indict him in any of the various corruption investigations under way.
“This is simply not true,” the prime minister said. “We are trying to solve it [the coalition crisis]. If there is goodwill, we will solve it; if not, we won’t. I have goodwill.”