Shas

'May God kill, destroy the judges,' Yitzhak Yosef denounces ruling restricting Western Wall prayers

Former Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef criticizes the High Court’s decision restricting Passover prayers at the Western Wall, calling the judges "heretics" and "Shabbat desecrators."

 Shas spiritual leader and former Sephardic chief rabbi, Yitzhak Yosef, seen during a weekly lecture at the Yazdim synagogue in Jerusalem, June 07, 2025; illustrative.
THE CHIEF RABBINATE’S Supreme Court for Appeals in Jerusalem: Israelis deserve a religious court system that honors both Halacha and human dignity, the writer asserts.

Knesset passes law expanding powers of Israel’s rabbinic courts to arbitrate civil matters

Head of Shas party Aryeh Deri and Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef visit at the scene of suspected arson and vandalism at a Jerusalem synagogue which is often frequented by Rabbi Yosef, June 8, 2025.

Shas fills local rabbi posts with loyalists, sidelining community choice - opinion

A Jewish woman prays at the Little Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City, February 18, 2026

Knesset advances bill granting Chief Rabbinate authority over Western Wall prayer


Knesset panel advances bill to expand rabbinical courts’ power over civil matters

Critics have warned of the bill's democratic implications, including those involving women's rights, which may deepen the rift between the haredi and secular communities.

THE RABBINICAL Court’s Division for Agunot in Jerusalem.

High Court: Israeli gov't must explain why it funds haredi schools without core studies

The order, issued in a petition filed by Hiddush, demands that the Education and Finance ministries explain why state funding is not conditioned on the teaching of core-curriculum subjects.

 HAREDI YESHIVA students

Haredi draft bill could trigger 'collapse' of Israel's Right in elections, aliyah minister warns

The aliyah minister asserted in December that he would vote against the proposed haredi draft law even at the risk of being dismissed from the government, calling the current outline "shameful.

Minister of Immigration and Absorption Ofir Sofer holds a press conference at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, December 1, 2025.

Knesset votes to split Arrangements Bill amid haredi parties' threats over state budget

The two parties threatened to vote against the coalition amid disagreements over the controversial haredi draft bill being advanced in the Knesset.

MK's Moshe Gafni and Yitzchak Goldknopf seen during a vote on the state budget at the assembly hall of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, January 28, 2026.

State to High Court: Education data on haredi core studies incomplete, disputes A-G’s framing

At the January hearing, the High Court ordered the state to submit all documents in its possession relating to core-curriculum instruction in the networks.

 HAREDI YESHIVA students

Knesset advances 2026 state budget in first reading amid coalition crisis over haredi draft

The Degel Hatorah faction within United Torah Judaism received a green light from spiritual leader Rabbi Dov Lando to vote in favor of the state budget, Lando's office said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seen after the vote on the state budget at the assembly hall of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, January 28, 2026.

Outcome of state budget vote uncertain amid coalition crisis over haredi draft

By law, if the state budget is not approved in all three readings by the end of March, when the fiscal year closes, the Knesset will automatically dissolve, and elections will be called.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet seen at the Knesset plenum, June 11, 2025

2026 budget reading puts government at risk, after months of ideological sparring - analysis

If the vote is postponed, or if the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties choose not to support it and it falls, then for all intents and purposes the government will fall with it.

A PLENUM session at the Knesset.

Government submits 2026 budget to Knesset, Smotrich vows passage despite rifts

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that the government was "determined to pass it [the state budget] on first reading,” during a press conference at the Knesset on Monday.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich after a press conference at the ministry, December 4, 2025; illustrative.

Netanyahu to appoint UTJ’s Yisrael Eichler to gov’t role to pass contentious haredi draft bill

The move will reportedly allow Yitzhak Pindrus, from the Degel Hatorah faction, to return to the Knesset as well, after he had previously been pushed off the United Torah Judaism Party list.

MK Yisrael Eichler arrives for a meeting of the Council of Torah Sages regarding the Haredi draft exemption bill in Jerusalem, January 7, 2026.