Israeli party pulls out over draft debate

JERUSALEM -- Israel plunged toward a political crisis yesterday after the largest party in the government quit, leaving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in charge of a hard-line coalition opposed to most Mideast peace moves.

The moderate Kadima Party voted to pull out in a feud over attempts to reform the country's military draft. The move, just two months after Kadima joined the coalition, appeared to push the country closer to early elections, which would paralyze Mideast diplomacy for months.

Even if Netanyahu manages to hold the truncated coalition together, the sudden crisis has broader implications for Mideast peace, leaving him in charge of a narrow parliamentary majority dominated by religious and nationalist hard-liners who oppose concessions to the Palestinians.

Kadima leader Shaul Mofaz brought the party into the coalition to work with Netanyahu on ending a contentious, decades-old system that has granted draft exemptions to tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students. But with a court-ordered Aug. 1 deadline to revise the law, the sides were unable to forge a compromise.

"We made a real effort to push toward a new law that would change the balance of service," Mofaz, a former military chief of staff, told a news conference.

Mofaz said he tried to forge a "new social contract," but was presented with "red lines" that couldn't be crossed. "We are going back with our heads held high to lead the nation in the opposition," he declared.

Kadima is the largest party in Israel's parliament, winning one more seat than Netanyahu's Likud Party in the last election, but it was left outside the government when Netanyahu set up his original hard-line team three years ago.

The draft exemptions have caused widespread resentment among Israel's secular majority, who are required to perform two to three years of compulsory service. Ultra-Orthodox leaders have been equally adamant in their refusal to compromise, claiming their young men serve the nation through prayer and study.

Netanyahu had sought a system that would gradually draft growing numbers of ultra-Orthodox over several years, and continue the exemptions for a smaller number of them. Mofaz wanted fewer exemptions and for the ultrareligious to be incorporated much faster.