Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suffered a major political blow on Wednesday, with a key governing partner announcing it was quitting his coalition government, leaving him with a minority in parliament as the country faces a litany of challenges.
Shas, an ultra-Orthodox party that has long served as kingmaker in Israeli politics, announced that it would leave the government over disagreements surrounding a proposed law that would enshrine broad military draft exemptions for its constituents, the second ultra-Orthodox governing party to do so this week.
