JERUSALEM

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid demanded Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resign Thursday to safeguard the country’s security.

The demand came in response to reports from Channel 12 in Israel that indicated the government had sought a postponement of the Supreme Court's ruling on petitions concerning the conscription of ultra-Orthodox Jews, known as Haredim, until May 20.

''How long will this promiscuous government continue to smear the State of Israel with excuses? The IDF (army) doesn't have enough soldiers, and everyone needs to enlist. Let them not spread slogans of together we will win if we don't enlist together,'' Lapid wrote on X.

''For the sake of Israel's security, Netanyahu should resign and this government should get out of our lives,'' he added.

Religious parties in the ruling coalition have threatened to withdraw from the government if a new conscription law is passed that does not grant exemptions to the Haredim from military service.

The Haredim constitute 13% of Israel's population and do not serve in the military, dedicating their lives to studying the Torah.

The law requires every Israeli above the age of 18 to enlist in the military. The exemption of the Haredim from service has sparked controversy for decades.

The debate has been intensified amid Israel's onslaught on the Gaza Strip since October, with secular parties in the government and the opposition, urging the Haredim to share the burdens of war.

Successive governments since 2017 have failed to reach a consensus on a draft law for the Haredim after the Supreme Court overturned a law enacted in 2015 that exempted the community from military service, considering the exemption a violation of the principle of equality.

The Knesset (parliament) has since regularly extended their exemption from service.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul