{"id":3761,"date":"2026-08-07T11:35:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T11:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=3761"},"modified":"2026-08-07T11:35:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T11:35:13","slug":"political-struggle-of-far-right-ally-smotrich-shows-faultline-in-netanyahu-coalition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=3761","title":{"rendered":"Political struggle of far-right ally Smotrich shows faultline in Netanyahu coalition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Israel\u2019s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich faces a fight for political survival in elections in October after angering his fellow West Bank settlers by voting not to punish ultra-Orthodox Jews who refuse to serve in the military.<\/p>

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The political travails of Smotrich are a sign of how tricky it will be for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to shepherd allies in his quarrelsome coalition through the Oct. 27 election, Israel\u2019s first since the start of the Gaza war.<\/p>

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A lifelong settler in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Smotrich, 46, leads the Religious Zionism party, which opposes a Palestinian state and argues that Jews\u2019 claim to land between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea arises from the Bible.<\/p>

Several Western countries have banned him from entering over accusations he supports violence by settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank, which he and the Israeli government reject.<\/p>

Though less overtly pugnacious than the other main far-right cabinet member, Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, with whom he is often compared, Smotrich has used his time in office to ramp up settlement building. He defends the cause with a caustic turn of phrase and is still lionised by many in the movement.<\/p>

\u201cI think his achievements have been off the charts,\u201d said Chaim Silberstein, a settler in Beit El, where Smotrich grew up and where new apartment blocks reflect the expansion he has championed.<\/p>

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But some one-time backers have been infuriated by his support last month for a law that would prevent the arrest of ultra-Orthodox Jews for avoiding the military draft.<\/p>

\u201cI don\u2019t have a political home today,\u201d said Sarel Halperin, 30, from the West Bank settlement of Alon Shvut, who voted for Religious Zionism in 2022. \u201cIf we keep doing this for years we won\u2019t have reservists and we won\u2019t have an army and we aren\u2019t a country that can exist without an army.\u201d<\/p>

Calculated decision<\/h2>

Religious Zionists such as Smotrich and his followers \u2014 colloquially known as \u201cknitted kippahs\u201d for the skullcaps worn by Orthodox Jewish men with modern dress \u2014 believe Judaism and nationalism go hand in hand. That causes political friction with some ultra-Orthodox communities in traditional dress, whose sons have typically eschewed military service for biblical study.<\/p>

Parties representing both groups are part of Netanyahu\u2019s coalition, which has struggled to avert a split over the issue since a Supreme Court ruling in 2024 that an exemption to the draft for religious study was unlawful.<\/p>

The bill that passed in parliament last month would have prevented arrests of ultra-Orthodox Jews who avoid the draft, but has also been blocked by the Supreme Court.<\/p>

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Smotrich says the ultra-Orthodox should be obliged to serve, but that arresting them would create division. He defended the position at a settler event last month, where attendees heckled him while shouting out numbers of dead soldiers.<\/p>

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\u201cArrests don\u2019t bring ultra-Orthodox to the army…they just make Jews fight one another in the streets,\u201d he responded. \u201cWe must enlist the ultra-Orthodox but it must be with a process and consensus.\u201d<\/p>

Gayil Talshir, political science lecturer at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said Smotrich\u2019s position represents a calculated decision to avoid a firm stance against the exemption that would have forced him to quit the coalition.<\/p>

\u2018No longer represents values\u2019<\/h2>

Remaining in government allowed him to advance his goals and push settlement expansion. But it has come at a cost in support from some who consider the issue fundamental.<\/p>

Smotrich \u201cno longer represents the values of Religious Zionism\u201d and has \u201csold this country to the ultra-Orthodox,\u201d said Shvut Raanan, a 33-year-old lawyer who grew up in the West Bank and has campaigned to end the exemption from military service.<\/p>

Her husband has served hundreds of days in the reserves since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks on Israel that led to the Gaza war, and she said many households are crumbling under such strain.<\/p>

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