Shas chairman MK Arye Deri said on Wednesday that his party would not join or support Israel’s next government unless legislation regulating the military service status of haredi (ultra-Orthodox) yeshiva students is passed, drawing criticism from opposition leaders as the October 27 election approaches.
Deri made the remarks in an interview with the haredi news outlet Kikar HaShabbat, making the passage of a draft law a condition for Shas’s participation in any future coalition, regardless of who forms the government.
“There will be no government in Israel with Shas’s support or participation unless the status of yeshiva students is regulated,” Deri said.
The declaration places the contentious issue of haredi military enlistment at the center of coalition negotiations even before Israelis head to the polls, with parties sharply divided over whether yeshiva students should continue receiving exemptions from IDF service.
Amid Shas and United Torah Judaism’s longstanding partnership in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, they have faced recent criticism over their stance regarding haredi conscription in light of the IDF’s severe manpower deficiency.
The haredi parties encouraged Netanyahu’s coalition to advance legislation that critics argued would not increase haredi enlistment during the government’s term.
They also boycotted coalition voting, stating that they would not cooperate with Netanyahu’s coalition until there was progress on the contentious legislation they had been pushing for.
In March, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir said the military could soon collapse if no solution was found for the manpower shortage.
Opposition bloc leaders condemn Deri's statements
Opposition leaders in the bloc seeking to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the upcoming elections condemned Deri’s statements, sharply criticized the premier’s partnership with the haredi parties, and warned of the IDF’s enlistment crisis.
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett, who leads the B’Yachad party, said that “Netanyahu will continue funding draft dodgers, and in return, Deri will give him the reins of power, all at the expense of those who serve.”
“The IDF chief of staff is raising 10 red flags over the army’s collapse, while Deri, a member of the Security Cabinet, tells him: ‘We intend to continue down the same path and institutionalize draft evasion,’” Bennett added.
“A vote for Netanyahu, [Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich, or Deri is a vote for draft evasion, 150 days of reserve duty a year, and billions of shekels every year transferred from the pockets of those who serve to those who evade service,” he said.
Leader of the Yisrael Beytenu party MK Avigdor Liberman noted that Deri had “admitted in his own words that he will agree to forming a government only if his puppet, Netanyahu, agrees to permanently exempt all haredim from military service.
“What does this mean in practice? Voting for the draft-dodgers’ government led by Bibi [Netanyahu] and Deri means an even greater burden on those who serve, hundreds more days of reserve duty, and further extensions of mandatory service for active-duty soldiers,” he said.