In a stunning political shake-up, the ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism parties have walked out of Israel’s ruling coalition over a controversial draft law. With his parliamentary majority gone,

The Shas party said it would resign over the government’s failure to enshrine into law the long-standing military exemption for the ultra-Orthodox community.

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.