Adrian Blomfield for the UK Telegraph, reports: “Just two months after joining a unity government, Shaul Mofaz led his Kadima party into opposition after failing to secure legislation extending conscription to Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jews. Mr Mofaz also resigned as deputy prime minister as negotiations over a new law on army service collapsed.

“Kadima has decided to resign from the national unity government,” Mr Mofaz said. Sinking fast in the opinion polls, Kadima had pinned its hopes of a recovery on securing reforms to the conscription law, which is viewed as highly unfair by secular Israeli Jews who make up the majority of the country’s population.

Holding 28 of the 120 seats in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, Kadima’s entry into the coalition gave Mr Netanyahu a majority virtually unparalleled in the history of the Jewish state.

Unwilling to yield to vote-winning concessions that smaller coalition partners are likely to demand when the next budget is drawn up in December, Mr Netanyahu is likely to go to the polls early next year.

A general election is not due until October, 2013 but Mr Netanyahu is highly popular in Israel and opinion polls suggest that Likud would again form the next government.”

[On twitter at this minute: BrunoBrussels #eurozone: Er, isn't this IMF report imf.org/external/np/se… the same as the one unveiled by Lagarde on 21 June telegraph.co.uk/finance/financ…].

~Posted by Horiwoodblog, Aotearoa New Zealand, Polynesia Asia-Pacific. 19.7.12~