The withdrawal, which comes after the Torah party's threat to dissolve Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition, is caused by disagreement on the issue of whether ultra-orthodox men should do military service at the same level as other Israeli Jews, writes The Times of Israel.
The Torah party consists of two parts. The first to announce the withdrawal was the Degel Hatorah faction, which has two seats in Israel's parliament, the Knesset.
"In accordance with (the rabbi's) instructions, Degel Hatorah's Knesset members will leave the government and coalition today", a spokesperson for Rabbi Dov Lando announced in a statement on Monday.
Narrow majority
Soon, the group received support from the Torah party's Hasidic Agudat Yisrael faction. Jerusalem Minister Meir Porush, who represents Agudat Yisrael, states that the decision to leave the government was made after a review of a new bill on conscription on Monday.
Leaving the government takes 48 hours to come into effect.
The Torah party has a total of seven seats in the Knesset. Without the party, the government still has a narrow majority, with 61 of the 120 seats.
Shas waits
There are reports that another ultra-orthodox party, Shas, is considering leaving the government due to the dispute over military service. In that case, the coalition would lose its majority, which could lead to the government's collapse.
Shas may leave on Thursday, according to the TV channel Keshet 12, reports The Times of Israel. A spokesperson states to the channel that the party is still waiting for instructions from its leadership.
According to the Israeli public service company KAN, a Shas withdrawal may become relevant on Thursday, which could indicate that the party first wants to see if the Torah party's parliament members follow through on their plan to leave.
According to source information to Haaretz, Shas leader Arye Dery supports a withdrawal but does not want to be seen as responsible for bringing down the government.
