Opposition fails to topple Israeli PM Netanyahu in no-confidence vote

An attempt by the Israeli opposition to bring down the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and force early elections failed in parliament on Thursday by the narrowest of margins.

Sixty-one members of the 120-seat Knesset voted against the opposition motion.

Ultra-Orthodox parties in Netanyahu's unwieldy coalition are in dispute with the government over legislation requiring ultra-Orthodox men to serve in the Israeli military. Media reports had indicated they would vote with the opposition.

Conciliation talks between the ultra-Orthodox parties and Juli Edelstein, head of the Knesset foreign and security policy committee, had preceded the vote, the ynet news website reported.

Edelstein is working on legislation that will oblige ultra-Orthodox men to do military service. It provides for sanctions for objectors. This led ultra-Orthodox parties to warn that they would leave Netanyahu's coalition.

The prime minister and his allies had worked to find a solution to the potential crisis ahead of the vote.

Israel's ultra-Orthodox have for years been exempt from military service, but the exemption expired last year after the government failed to pass legislation making it permanent.

In the summer of last year, the Supreme Court ruled that ultra-Orthodox men had to serve.

Ultra-Orthodox men see military service as contradicting their religious way of life, partly because in Israel men and women serve together.

The Israeli military is suffering a severe shortage of battle-ready troops as the Gaza war drags on.