Deri Ties Shas Support to Draft Law as IDF Manpower Strains

Arye Deri set his price 13 days before Israelis vote. On Wednesday, the Shas chairman said his party won't join or support the next government unless the military service status of haredi yeshiva students is legally regulated. “There will be no government in Israel with Shas’s support or participation unless the status of yeshiva students is regulated,” Deri told the haredi news outlet Kikar HaShabbat.

He didn’t hedge about who might seek his support. Deri made the demand a condition for any future coalition, regardless of who forms the government. That includes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the bloc seeking to replace him.

The Manpower Problem

The demand comes as the army says it’s stretched thin. The IDF has repeatedly warned of an urgent manpower shortage after three years of war. In March, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir said the IDF could soon collapse if no solution was found.

That’s a blunt warning from the officer responsible for the country’s defense. It comes as Israel faces enemies who haven’t stopped trying to destroy it, and an army that can’t simply wish more soldiers into existence.

The October 27 Knesset election has pushed the issue to the center of coalition bargaining. Parties are sharply divided over whether yeshiva students should keep receiving exemptions from IDF service. Shas and United Torah Judaism (UTJ) have a longstanding partnership in Netanyahu’s coalition, and they’ve faced recent criticism over their position on haredi conscription amid the manpower crisis.

The haredi parties encouraged the coalition to advance legislation that critics argued wouldn’t increase haredi enlistment during the government’s term. They also boycotted coalition voting, saying they wouldn’t cooperate until progress was made on the contentious legislation they’ve been promoting.

Opposition Pounces

Opposition leaders in the bloc seeking to replace Netanyahu condemned Deri’s remarks. They also criticized the premier’s partnership with the haredi parties and warned about the manpower crisis.

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett, who leads the B’Yachad party, said: “Netanyahu will continue funding draft dodgers, and in return, Deri will give him the reins of power, all at the expense of those who serve.” He added: “The IDF chief of staff is raising 10 red flags over the army’s collapse, while Deri, a member of the Security Cabinet, tells him: We intend to continue down the same path and institutionalize draft evasion.”

Bennett went further. “A vote for Netanyahu, [Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich, or Deri is a vote for draft evasion, 150 days of reserve duty a year, and billions of shekels every year transferred from the pockets of those who serve to those who evade service,” he said.

MK Avigdor Liberman, leader of the Yisrael Beytenu party, said Deri had “admitted in his own words that he will agree to forming a government only if his puppet, Netanyahu, agrees to permanently exempt all haredim from military service.” Liberman added that voting for the government led by Netanyahu and Deri “means an even greater burden on those who serve, hundreds more days of reserve duty, and further extensions of mandatory service for active-duty soldiers.”

What Comes Next

The arithmetic is simple, even if the politics aren’t. Deri has said no government gets Shas without regulating yeshiva students’ status. His critics say those already serving will likely spend more time in uniform. Whoever wins on October 27 will have to reconcile a coalition partner’s red line with a chief of staff’s warning.

Why This Matters: Israel is a democracy that fights non-state armed groups and their state sponsors, and its citizen army depends on a shared burden. The reported strain on reservists and conscripts is a security issue, not just a domestic quarrel. From a security standpoint, a coalition that can’t resolve who serves risks leaving commanders short of troops while threats persist. Whatever government emerges will inherit the manpower question first, and its answer will shape how long Israel’s soldiers can sustain the fight.