UTJ threatens to boycott coalition votes over ministry budget demand

The ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism (UTJ) faction warned that it would not vote with the coalition starting Wednesday if a budget is not immediately transferred to the Jerusalem Affairs and Jewish Tradition Ministry in a statement on Tuesday.

Jerusalem Affairs and Jewish Tradition Minister Meir Porush claimed that the Finance Ministry has not approved the transfer of funds to the ministry despite the state budget being approved.

"How is it possible that a month after the approval of the budget and three weeks since we submitted a detailed document for the activity of the Jewish Tradition, the Finance Ministry still has not approved the transfer of funds to this activity?" questioned Porush. "This shows a lack of recognition and understanding of the importance of this activity."

The deputy minister for haredi development, Uri Maklev, additionally claimed that the budget for the Authority for Economic and Social Development of the haredi sector also has not been transferred.

Threat latest incident of coalition turmoil

The threat is the latest in a series of incidents of infighting and threats to not vote with the coalition made by various parties since the government was formed late last year.

In a vote concerning the committee responsible for electing all of Israel's civil judges last week, at least four coalition MKs went against coalition discipline and voted for the opposition's candidate, MK Karin Elharrar.

In May, the Otzma Yehudit party temporarily stopped voting with the government and demanded further funds for the Development of the Negev and Galilee and National Resilience Ministry.

UTJ also threatened the rest of the coalition in May, demanding NIS 600 million for yeshiva students and threatening to topple the government if it did not receive the funding.