JERUSALEM: Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Shas party on Monday threatened to bring down Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government by backing a motion for early elections amid a row over military service. Netanyahu’s coalition, one of the most right-wing in Israel’s history, is at risk of collapsing over a bill that could reverse the long-standing exemption from the draft for ultra-Orthodox Jews. The exemption is facing growing pushback as Israel wages war on Palestinian Islamist militants Hamas in Gaza.

Too many signs indicate that the "big" political crisis is no more than an old ultra-Orthodox trick. They are yet again selling us the notion of a terrible cataclysm, with cries…

Sources close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that an agreement can be reached with the ultra-Orthodox parties over military conscription legislation…