Shas

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

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

MK Boaz Bismuth seen with haredi MKs and Aliyah and Integration Minister Ofir Sofer in the Knesset, Jerusalem, January 14, 2026.

IDF draft equality is minimum condition to restore Israeli solidarity - editorial

Rabbi Yaakov Aryeh Alter, head of the Gur hassidic dynasty,  seen after a meeting of the Council of Torah Sages regarding the haredi draft exemption bill in Jerusalem, January 7, 2026.

Ultra-Orthodox sages convene on haredi IDF draft bill, withhold official stance


‘We want a draft law’: Bismuth leads first meeting on new conscription bill since Edelstein ousting

MK Boaz Bismuth opened the first meeting to discuss the haredi draft law since replacing MK Yuli Edelstein as Chairperson of the  Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

MK Boaz Bismuth at first meeting on new conscription bill since Edelstein ousting on August 12, 2025

Bismuth elected FADC head, ousting Edelstein over haredi draft bill

Edelstein, prior to the vote, published for the first time the draft of the conscription law, which was sent to committee members. 

MK Boaz Bismuth attends a Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem July 8, 2025

Netanyahu temporarily appoints Levin and Katz to key ministries amid haredi resignations

The fact that the ministries were given to just Levin and Katz indicated that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to “safeguard” them for the eventual possibility of Shas’s return.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu with Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Minister of Tourism Haim Katz during a discussion and a vote in the assembly hall of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, on February 22, 2023.

Bismuth elected new Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee head

Netanyahu announced that MK Hanoch Milwidsky will become ‘temporary’ Finance Committee head.

MK Boaz Bismuth attends a Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem July 8, 2025

Netanyahu's Likud to remove Edelstein from key committee over haredi draft fallout

A replacement for Edelstein on the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee may be willing to make concessions that Edelstein was not willing to make, thus allowing the bill to proceed.

 Benjamin Netanyahu and Yuli Edelstein seen at the Knesset on November 4, 2021

Yuli Edelstein stands on principle for crafting conscription law for haredi population - editorial

Yosef’s words reveal the ugly truth behind the ultra-Orthodox parties’ opposition to military service: Is it actually about Torah study or religious obligation?

 Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee MK Yuli Edelstein speaks at the Muni Expo 2025 conference in Tel Aviv, on July 15, 2025.

Will the Knesset recess open a window for a deal? Netanyahu’s political breathing room - analysis

The Knesset's upcoming recess will potentially give PM Benjamin Netanyahu time to broker a hostage deal and figure out a solution to the issue of the haredi draft law.

 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir at a Knesset debate, July 14, 2025; illustrative.

National healing begins with a much needed change in politics - editorial

We may be naive, but at the same time truly believe that there is a small and important opportunity for change.

Even as Shas followed United Torah Judaism’s lead and declared on Wednesday it was leaving the government, it did so with a major caveat: ‘We are leaving the government, but we are not quitting the coalition.’ Here, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sits alongside Shas chairman Arye Deri in 2023.

‘Read my lips this gov't will not fall’: Israeli coalition faces crisis over haredi draft law

As Israel’s ruling coalition fractures over the Haredi Draft bill, religious parties threaten to quit, and pressure mounts from reservists, the government clings to a narrow majority.

 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seen speaking at the Knesset.

Reality check: Ultra-Orthodox rabbis are leading their flock to a historic dead end - opinion

MIDDLE ISRAEL: In their wartime conduct, the ultra-orthodox rabbis show a lack of commitment and a real disconnection with reality.

 "We are at war. Join it! Fully, immediately, to the last of you, like everyone else," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not tell Shas leader Arye Deri.