Shas’s spiritual leadership on Wednesday instructed its party to resign from the government – but not leave the coalition – over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s failure to follow through on a promise to exempt yeshiva students from IDF service.
Despite the decision to quit the government, the Sephardi-ultra-Orthodox party’s spiritual leadership, known as the Council of Torah Sages, stressed it will not join with the opposition to bring down the government, since “they too led incitement against Torah scholars.”
Rather, the council gave Netanyahu a new deadline – the beginning of the Knesset winter session on October 19 – to find a solution to the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) IDF draft issue.
The decision came after the two Ashkenazi factions from United Torah Judaism quit the government on Monday and Tuesday at the directive of their spiritual leaderships.
The political rupture came after negotiations between the haredi representatives and Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman MK Yuli Edelstein over a bill to regulate haredi service in the IDF fell through on Monday night.
In its statement, Shas’s council laid the blame for the rupture squarely on Edelstein, who it said “reneged on all of the agreements on the matter, and added draconian and unacceptable demands, whose entire purpose is to harm and disgrace Torah students.”
The council also decried the “cruel and criminal persecution of yeshiva students” by law enforcement agencies led by the attorney-general, and encouraged yeshiva students to continue in their studies.
The statement also included a prayer for the return of the hostages in Hamas captivity, and a directive to party chairman MK Arye Deri to back Netanyahu’s efforts to land a hostage-release agreement.
Shas’s exit from the government will leave a series of ministerial and Knesset committee chairmanships empty. These include the Interior, Health, Welfare, and Religious Affairs ministries.
Shas's decision leaves Netanyhu just 49 MKs in the coalition, far from the needed 61
Despite the rabbis’ statement that Shas was not leaving the coalition, its decision potentially leaves Netanyahu being able to count on a coalition of only 49 MKs, far below a majority of 61. This could effectively paralyze most parliamentary activity, but the damage is negated by the fact that the Knesset will recess on July 27 for three months, meaning that parliamentary activity will soon cease, regardless.
In a video statement in response to Shas’s decision, opposition leader MK Yair Lapid said, “A minority government cannot send soldiers into battle. A minority government cannot decide who lives and who dies. A minority government cannot determine the fate of Gaza, or finalize agreements with Syria and Saudi Arabia. It cannot continue transferring billions to the corrupt and draft dodgers – at the expense of taxpayers.
“Certainly, a minority government cannot exempt ultra-Orthodox Jews from military service. It has no authority, no right. It is an illegitimate government. The State of Israel faces major challenges and must make significant decisions. It’s time for elections. Now.”
In a series of statements and interviews on Tuesday and earlier on Wednesday, haredi members of Knesset and officials affiliated with the haredi parties accused Edelstein of “deceiving” them throughout the negotiation process, and for reneging on agreements reached on June 12, a day before Israel’s surprise attack against Iran.
Edelstein responded on Tuesday that the June 12 agreements still left many issues open, and that it was the haredim, and not he, who reneged from the agreements, when they broke a promise not to act against the government during the Iran operation. In addition, Edelstein hinted that the June 12 agreements were non-binding; his agreement on June 12 was aimed chiefly at preventing the passage of a preliminary vote to disperse the Knesset, which he said could have endangered the operation.
The June 12 agreements stipulated that an increasing quota of haredi draftees would enlist annually, with the ultimate goal of 50% of each graduating class within five years. The bill included a series of sanctions that would apply to draft dodgers gradually, with some relatively light sanctions applying immediately, and heavier sanctions added at six-month increments. Financial sanctions would also be applied to yeshivot that do not reach draft quotas. In the meantime, current sanctions against draft dodgers – which include blocked funds to yeshivot and the cessation of state-subsidized daycare – would be lifted.
The text of the bill that Edelstein presented to haredi representatives on Monday evening included a number of additional provisions that irked them, a source confirmed.
According to the source, these included a demand that all haredim go through initial IDF enlistment procedures before receiving exemptions, so that they could be drafted quickly if necessary; the use of fingerprint technology to oversee attendance of yeshiva students who receive exemptions; the initial annual quota beginning with 5,700 draftees, as opposed to the original number of 4,800; requirement of legal approval in the FADC prior to sending the bill to the plenum for final approval; and more.