Shas

Why Gadi Eisenkot is rejecting the haredi political embrace that once helped Netanyahu win

POLITICAL AFFAIRS: Yitzhak Yosef’s embrace – and Eisenkot's effort to distance himself from it – reflects Israel's shifting political landscape.

Amid reports that the Shas Party could be willing to sit with him in government, Yashar Party head Gadi Eisenkot did not rule out that option entirely. Here, Eisenkot attends the Sagi Laws for Equality Confrence at the Peres Center in Jaffa earlier this week.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi are seen in the Knesset plenum during a vote on the minister's communications reform, in Jerusalem, July 16, 2026

Netanyahu's coalition falls to 48 seats, opposition gets 62 seats after legislative blitz - poll

Shas chairman MK Arye Deri attends the State Comptroller elections at the plenum of the Knesset, in Jerusalem, June 3, 2026.

Shas leader Arye Deri accuses IDF chief of 'helping the Left' with ultra-Orthodox draft stance

 A voting box in the last Israeli election in 2015

Thinking about the Basic Law: Torah Study - opinion


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.

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

The Israel-Hamas War did not only take bodies; it took spirit. It took marriages, jobs, sleep, and the sense that someone competent is steering.

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

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

The rabbis reportedly did not reach a decision on the matter; however, they allegedly decided internally to reject the sanctions imposed on draft evaders.

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.

Millions transferred to haredi schools without Knesset approval, state admits to court

During the hearing, a state representative acknowledged that a significant portion of the funds had already been transferred prior to the Finance Committee discussion.

Opposition head Yair Lapid arrives for a court hearing at the Supreme Court on a petition against the transfer of funds to ultra-Orthodox educational institutions, January 8, 2026

Knesset rejects Yesh Atid bill to nationalize KKL, Lapid accuses rivals of 'corruption'

Lapid cited systemic corruption “of the worst kind” as the reason for leaving.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid leads a Yesh Atid meeting at the Knesset, Jerusalem, November 17, 2025.