Israelis take part in an anti-government protest calling for an end to the conflict with Lebanon, amid a two-week ceasefire between U.S. and Iran, in Tel Aviv on April 11, 2026.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s expected visit here is getting entangled in Israel’s domestic politics, with Opposition leader Yair Lapid threatening to boycott his parliamentary address unless the Supreme Court chief is invited for it, as per convention.

Mr. Modi is expected to arrive in Israel on February 25, 2026, for a two-day visit, during which he is likely to address the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) and meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog.

Leader of Opposition Lapid has insisted that Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit be invited to the Knesset when Mr. Modi addresses the House. Sources in the Opposition maintain that it is not a call for a boycott; instead, the government is “intentionally trying to force us into a bad situation.” “We spoke to the Indian embassy … They are in panic from this. Prime Minister of India, Modi, is invited to the Knesset next Wednesday [February 25, 2026], something that is a matter of honour for all of us,” Mr. Lapid told the Knesset recently.

“If the coalition boycotts the President of the High Court during the special session with the Prime Minister of India, we will not be able to attend the debate,” Mr. Lapid told the lawmakers, stressing that another public boycott of Mr. Amit by the coalition would cause “enormous embarrassment” to the legislature.

“We do not want India to be embarrassed by us, with the Prime Minister of a nation of a billion people standing here in front of a half-empty Knesset,” Mr. Lapid emphasised.

Israel’s domestic politics is embroiled in a heated debate over judicial overhaul, a divisive issue that has also sharply split the population for over two years. The country faced large protests on the issue before the October 7 attack by Hamas two years ago, drawing hundreds of thousands of people to the streets every weekend for almost 10 months.

Following Mr. Amit’s election as court President in January 2025, Justice Minister Yariv Levin has refused to recognise his authority as the Chief Justice and has refused to meet him or address him as head of the court.

The State Gazette has also not published his name as the Chief Justice, as required by law.

This has led to Mr. Amit’s exclusion from multiple Knesset events — including addresses by U.S. President Donald Trump and other world leaders — to which he would have traditionally been invited.

Two weeks ago, the Opposition boycotted a Knesset session to celebrate its 77th anniversary due to Mr. Amit’s exclusion.

Mr. Lapid was the only member of the Opposition to address the plenum, using his speech to attack Netanyahu over his treatment of the court President.

The Leader of Opposition’s (LOP) threat has led to heated exchanges in the political circles with Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana accusing Lapid of harming the Indo-Israel relations in order to score domestic political points.

“If the Leader of the Opposition, M.K. Yair Lapid, wants to harm the foreign relations of the State of Israel with an important friend of ours, who is also one of the most important powers in the world, that is his choice. An unfortunate, wrong choice, and I hope he will reverse it,” Knesset Speaker Ohana posted on X, calling such threats “illegitimate weapons in an internal political struggle.”

The Knesset Speaker also called upon the Opposition leader to explain to the Indian government why he did not choose to boycott appearances by Argentinian President Javier Milei and U.S. President Trump, “even though Justice Amit was not invited” to their speeches.

Mr. Lapid responded by issuing a public appeal to Netanyahu, agreeing that boycotting a foreign leader was indeed “an illegitimate weapon in an internal political struggle” but arguing that the fault lay with the Knesset speaker.

To prevent harm to ties between Jerusalem and New Delhi, Mr. Netanyahu “must immediately instruct Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana to also invite Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit to the ceremonial meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Mr. Lapid asserted.

“Ohana’s boycott of Justice Amit is also a boycott of the Opposition, and will not allow us to attend the meeting,” he said, insisting that he had “no desire” to harm the standing of the country, Knesset and Prime Minister but he was being “push[ed] into a corner”.

Senior sources in the Opposition told PTI that “they [the government] are intentionally trying to force us into a bad situation.”

“We are not calling for a boycott. We are calling on the PM and speaker to invite the President of the Supreme Court in accordance with the protocol,” a source said.

“We hope that the Prime Minister resolves this and avoids embarrassment during such an important visit by a great friend and strategic ally. Everyone in Israel greatly values the relationship and friendship with India,” the source said.

Published – February 22, 2026 06:15 pm IST

Israel’s Supreme Court ruling curtailing subsidies for ultra-Orthodox men has rattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition and raised questions about its viability as the country presses on with the war in Gaza.

Mr. Netanyahu has until April 1 to present the court with a plan to dismantle what the Justices called a system that privileges the ultra-Orthodox at the expense of the secular Jewish public.

Also read: Analysis | Benjamin Netanyahu: A Prime Minister always at war

If that plan alienates the ultra-Orthodox lawmakers on whose support he depends, his coalition could disintegrate and the country could be forced to hold new elections.

What did the country’s top court say? And, how will it impact Israeli politics? Here’s a breakdown of the decision.

Religious exemption is discriminatory, says Israeli Supreme Court

Most Jewish men are required to serve nearly three years in the military, followed by years of reserve duty. Jewish women serve two mandatory years. However, the politically powerful ultra-Orthodox, who make up roughly 13% of Israeli society, have traditionally received exemptions while studying full-time in religious seminaries, or yeshivas.

Listen: History of the Israel-Palestine conflict – A podcast series

This years-old system has bred widespread resentment among the broader public — a feeling that has deepened during nearly six months of war. More than 500 soldiers have been killed in the fighting, and tens of thousands of Israelis have had their careers, studies and daily lives disrupted because of reserve duty.

The Supreme Court ruled that the current system is discriminatory and gave the government until April 1 to present a new plan, and until June 30 to pass one.

On March 28, Mr. Netanyahu asked the court for a 30-day extension to find a compromise. The court did not immediately respond to his request. However, it issued an interim order barring the government from funding the monthly subsidies for religious students of enlistment age who have not received a deferral from the army. Those funds will be frozen starting April 1.

While the loss of state subsidies is certainly a blow, it appears the yeshivas can continue to function. Israel’s Channel 12 reported on March 29 that the State provides only 7.5% of all funding for the institutions. Mr. Netanyahu’s coalition could also search for discretionary funds to cover the gaps.

Unsustainable system

Many Israelis are celebrating the court’s decision, believing it spells an end to a system that takes for granted their military service and economic contributions while advantaging the ultra-Orthodox, or “Haredim” as they are called in Israel.

The religious exemption dates back to Israel’s founding, a compromise that the country’s first prime minister, David Ben Gurion, made with ultra-orthodox leaders to allow some 400 yeshiva students to devote themselves fully to Torah study. But what was once a fringe Haredi population has grown precipitously, making the exemption a hugely divisive issue to Israeli society.

Many ultra-Orthodox continue to receive government stipends into adulthood, eschewing getting paying jobs to focus on religious studies full-time. Economists have long warned the system is unsustainable.

“The next government will have to hold a long overdue conversation about the future of the Haredi relationship to the State,” commentator Anshel Pfeffer wrote in Israel’s left-leaning daily, Haaretz. “Now, the Haredim will have no choice but to take part in it. It won’t be just about the national service of its young men, it will also have to address fundamental questions about education and employment,” he said.

Ultra-Orthodox leaders have reacted angrily. Aryeh Deri, head of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, called the court’s decision “unprecedented bullying of Torah students in the Jewish state.” They say that integrating into the army will threaten their generations-old way of life, and that their devout lifestyle and dedication to upholding the Jewish commandments protect Israel as much as a strong army. Although a small number have opted to serve in the military, many have vowed to fight any attempt to compel Haredim to do so.

“Without the Torah, we have no right to exist,” said Yitzchak Goldknopf, leader of the ultra-Orthodox party United Torah Judaism. “We will fight in every way over the right of every Jew to study Torah and we won’t compromise on that.”

Netanyahu’s next move

Mr. Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, is known as a master political survivor. But his room for maneuver is limited.

Vowing to press forward with a war that has harmed the Israeli economy and asked much of its soldiers and reservists, he could lose the support of the more centrist elements of his fragile national unity government if he tries to preserve the exemptions for the ultra-Orthodox.

The two centrists in his fragile War Cabinet, both former generals, have insisted that all sectors of Israeli society contribute equally. One, Benny Gantz, has threatened to quit — a step that would destabilize a key decision-making body at a sensitive time in the war.

But the powerful bloc of ultra-Orthodox parties — longtime partners of Mr. Netanyahu — want draft exemptions to continue.

The ultra-Orthodox parties have not said what they will do if they lose their preferential status. However, if they decide to leave the government, the coalition would almost certainly collapse and the country could be forced into new elections, with the prime minister trailing significantly in the polls amid the war.