Overview
- The Knesset postponed the 2026 budget’s first reading from Monday to Wednesday because of a clash over maintaining draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men.
- United Torah Judaism and Shas said they will not back the budget unless the conscription bill advances first.
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened urgent talks with haredi leaders and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich following the delay.
- Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich warned that if the budget fails to pass now the Knesset should be dissolved.
- The conscription bill is nearing the end of committee review with conditional legal-counsel support, while a two-month legislative minimum and a late-March budget deadline raise the risk of automatic dissolution.