Ultra-Orthodox army service splits Israeli coalition "The smart thing to do is to lead to the integration of Haredim [ultra-Orthodox] and minorities, and the right way is to encourage and to facilitate and not to do so by means of separation and fostering hatred," he told the committee, chaired by Ya'acov Peri, the science minister and a member of the secular Yesh Atid party, Mr Netanyahu's main coalition partner. Mr Peri, a former head of Shin Bet, Israel's domestic intelligence agency, hit back, accusing Mr Ya'alon of effectively telling the coalition "to drop the principle of the compulsory draft, which applies to everyone who serves." The disagreement has the potential to break up the coalition, some Yesh Atid parliamentarians have warned. The party - led by the charismatic Yair Lapid, now the finance minister - forced Mr Netanyahu, the prime minister, to accept its electorally popular "sharing the burden" platform of drafting the Haredim into the military and mainstream economy when it entered the government in March. Mr Peri's committee has been considering the possibility of criminal punishments - including jail terms - for ultra-orthodox men who resist the draft. Planned legislation would limit the current blanket exemptions to 1,800 especially gifted students each year. The proposals have provoked an backlash from many Haredim. This month, an estimated 30,000 ultra-Orthodox demonstrators clashed with police after gathering outside an army recruitment office in Jerusalem. Mr Netanyahu is thought to be sceptical of the plan but even some members of his own Likud party have criticised Mr Ya'alon's attempts to back away from it. The rule for a Haredi man needs to the rule for a secular man in this context, Tzachi Hanegbi, a former justice and intelligence minister and now a prominent backbencher, told Israel Radio. To concede in advance and to grant a sweeping exemption to anyone who dodges the draft? In that case our entire effort is a waste of time.