Israeli Coalition Divided on Military Conscription JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's super-size coalition was showing its first serious signs of stress on Friday in its quest for a more universal draft system in Israel. An effort that has so far focused on phasing out mass army exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jews suddenly became more fraught as right-wing nationalist parties decided to press the equally - if not more - contentious issue of national or civilian service for Israel's Arab citizens. The issue is highly provocative. While most Jewish Israelis, and Druze men, are conscripted at 18, Israeli Arabs are generally not required to perform mandatory military service, though they may volunteer. Many view the years of military service and reserve duty a burden, but the experience is often a requirement in the job market and it affords certain social and economic benefits. Arab citizens are entitled to equal rights in Israel but, like minorities in many countries, many experience discrimination. And many Israeli Arabs identify in terms of nationality with the Palestinians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip more than with the country's Jewish Zionist majority. There is still a month to go before the deadline by which the government must come up with an alternative to the Tal Law, passed 2002, which formalized exemptions for tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews engaged in religious studies. Israel's Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional and invalidated it in February. But as the government struggles to come up with a new formula for a more equitable distribution of the burdens of citizenship, Mr. Netanyahu, whose recently expanded coalition commands a majority in the 120-seat Parliament, finds himself increasingly squeezed between the secular and religious forces in his government. Many analysts here saw the political wrangling as a sign of Mr. Netanyahu's weakness and predicted that it was unlikely to result in any drastic change regarding the draft. "All that's left is to be amazed by Benjamin Netanyahu, whom many call the king of Israel, who managed get into this mess," Ofer Shelah, a well-known commentator, wrote on Friday in the Hebrew-language newspaper Maariv. After Mr. Netanyahu chose to stave off early elections by expanding his coalition, he finds himself "with elections ahead of him and not behind him, and with coalition party members who only have their eyes on the ballot boxes," Mr. Shelah wrote. Mr. Netanyahu's newest partner, the secular and centrist Kadima Party, is demanding a tougher line on drafting the ultra-Orthodox than others in the coalition will probably tolerate. One Kadima legislator warned on Friday that the issue could tear his party apart. Meanwhile the secular, ultranationalist Yisrael Beiteinu Party led by Avigdor Lieberman, the foreign minister, is championing the cause of obligatory service for Israeli Arabs, who make up about 20 percent of the population of 7.8 million. Mr. Netanyahu is in favor of encouraging more Arabs to volunteer for civilian national service, in a gradual process and in dialogue with the Arab community, but he is opposed to compulsory service for Arabs, an aide said. The latest uproar began on Thursday, when Yisrael Beiteinu and the smaller, pro-settler Habayit Hayehudi (Jewish Home) Party quit the committee responsible for drafting recommendations for a bill to replace the Tal Law. Yisrael Beiteinu said in a statement that it had quit after the committee decided "to positively discriminate in favor of the Arab public in Israel," by limiting its recommendations to drafting the ultra-Orthodox. Mr. Lieberman's party favors drafting all citizens for military, national or civilian service at the age of 18. The committee is headed by Yohanan Plesner, a Kadima legislator. Although Mr. Netanyahu originally agreed in principle to tackle the issue of Arab service along with that of the ultra-Orthodox, the committee decided that it was impractical to come up with solutions for both by the end of July. But Mr. Lieberman's insistence has put the prime minister in a bind. On Thursday, Mr. Netanyahu spoke to Arab legislators by telephone and told them it was imperative to gradually increase the share of all sectors of society in the burdens of citizenship, according to officials in the prime minister's office. But they added that it should be done in a phased manner and in coordination with Arab representatives. One of the Arab legislators, Ahmad Tibi, told Israel Radio on Friday that Arab citizens were not willing to be the victims of a coalition war between the Jews. He said that before talking about equally sharing the burden, there had to be equality for everyone - in infrastructure, in budgets, in land, and in education. Recent polls have shown that despite a rise in the number of Arabs volunteering for civilian community service, a growing majority of Arab youth are opposed. A survey published in May by Haifa University found that 40 percent of Arab youth in Israel were willing to volunteer for civil service in 2011, compared with 53 percent in 2009. The Haifa University study also found that 90 percent of the Arab volunteers were girls providing educational and welfare services in their communities. The number of Arabs participating in civil national service has risen tenfold in recent years, from 240 in 2004 to nearly 2,400 in this year.