Israel’s former defence minister has resigned from the country’s parliament over the government’s intention to exempt ultra-Orthodox Jewish men from army service.

Yoav Gallant, a senior member of Israel’s Right-wing Likud Party, said in a televised press conference on Wednesday that the government was advancing an enlistment law that “contradicts the needs of the Israeli army and the security” of Israel.

Mr Gallant was fired from government in November by Benjamin Netanyahu, after months of disagreements over the conduct of the war against Hamas in Gaza, but had kept his seat as an elected member of the Knesset.

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men and women have been largely exempt from army service since the establishment of Israel in 1948, while secular and traditional Jewish men and women must serve for a minimum of 32 and 24 months respectively.