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.

|ByKESHET NEEV, REUTERS
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

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.

|ByKESHET NEEV
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

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.

|ByJPOST 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

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

|ByKESHET NEEV

Israel's post-holiday politics: Will Netanyahu take a political hit to keep coalition intact?

NATIONAL AFFAIRS: With Shas out of the government, Netanyahu faces a decision between taking a hit to maintain the coalition or preparing for the upcoming elections.

JULY 18, 2025ByHERB KEINON
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.

'My conscience is clear': Why MK Yuli Edelstein won't settle for a soft haredi draft - interview

"This law ends the phenomenon of pretending to study Torah. To me, that’s a disgrace to the world of Torah," Edelstein told Maariv.

JULY 18, 2025ByANNA BARSKY
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.

Deri to remain in Netanyahu's security cabinet, Shas's Arbel rescinds resignation

Arye Deri to remain in Netanyahu's security cabinet, despite Shas leaving government • Interior Minister Moshe Arbel to stay in role to complete 'urgent tasks'

JULY 17, 2025ByELIAV BREUER
ARYE DERI is escorted outside his home in Jerusalem on Wednesday.

Israeli gov't no longer has mandate to avoid October 7 state probe, bereaved parents say

“A government that has lost its majority has no mandate to erase the October 7 massacre and bury the truth,” the families concluded.

JULY 17, 2025ByELIAV BREUER
Families of Israelis held hostage in the Gaza Strip and activists protest at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, May 5, 2025

Knesset election dynamics largely unchanged despite Shas, UTJ leaving gov't, N12 poll finds

Israel's Channel 12 conducted a poll on general election scenarios following the Sephardi-haredi Shas Party's Wednesday announcement that they are leaving the coalition.

JULY 16, 2025ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir at a Knesset debate, July 14, 2025; illustrative.

Lapid calls Netanyahu's gov't 'illegitimate' following Shas's exit from coalition

Israeli officials react to Shas's decision to exit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

JULY 16, 2025ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
Head of opposition and head of the Yesh Atid party MK Yair Lapid leads a faction meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, on June 30, 2025.

Shas spiritual leaders order party members to quit government

Shas's leaders directed MKs not to topple the government, though their decision shrinks Netanyahu's coalition to 29 MKs.

JULY 16, 2025ByELIAV BREUER, JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Head of Shas party Arye Deri, June 8, 2025.

Trump hints at 'good news' regarding Gaza as Israel shows flexibility in hostage talks

Sirens by Dead Sea after Houthi missile launch • Shas exits Netanyahu's gov't,• Syrian Druze leaders reach ceasefire in Sweida • Israel's Druze community infiltrates Syria •

JULY 16, 2025ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
Demonstrators protest for the release of Israelis held hostage in the Gaza Strip, in Tel Aviv, July 2, 2025

Netanyahu offers to fire Edelstein for haredi parties staying in coalition

Edelstein called on haredi politicians to exhibit “national responsibility” and refrain from toppling the government over their insistence to exempt at least half of eligible haredim from IDF draft.

JULY 15, 2025ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
Shas head Arye Deri is seen in the plenum of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, July 14, 2025

Does UTJ’s departure mean that Israel is heading to an election? - analysis

The short answer is probably yes, but not immediately.

JULY 15, 2025ByELIAV BREUER
Ultra orthodox jews at the headquarters of United Torah Judaism list for the Beit Shemesh municipality, during the Municipal Elections, in Beit Shemesh, February 27, 2024.