Litzman, UTJ to remain in government, Councils of Torah Sages say
UTJ and Agudah leader Yaakov Litzman had threatened to quit the government.
By GIL HOFFMANHealth Minister Ya'acov Litzman at the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, June 3, 2018(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received good news early Wednesday when the Councils of Torah Sages of the Agudat Yisrael party of the United Torah Judaism faction decided to remain in his government, despite the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) conscription issue remaining undecided.UTJ and Agudah leader Yaakov Litzman had threatened to quit the government if a new haredi conscription bill, that legalizes haredim being conscripted for army service, had been passed before the Knesset begins its extended summer recess on Thursday. The decision of the rabbis means he will not have to leave his post as deputy health minister.There had been a possibility that Litzman would leave alone or with only the four Agudat Yisrael MKs, with the rest of UTJ splitting and remaining in Netanyahu's coalition.Coalition chair David Amsalem (likud) told reporters on Monday that those possiblites were "an uban myth."
