Deri Ties Shas Support to Haredi Draft Law

Shas chairman MK Arye Deri said Wednesday that his party won’t join or support Israel’s next government unless lawmakers pass legislation regulating the military service status of haredi yeshiva students. His condition puts military conscription at the center of coalition negotiations as the IDF faces an urgent manpower shortage after three years of war.

Draft Law Becomes Coalition Condition

In an interview with the haredi news outlet Kikar HaShabbat, Deri said the requirement would apply regardless of who forms the next government. “There will be no government in Israel with Shas’s support or participation unless the status of yeshiva students is regulated,” he said.

The Knesset election is scheduled for October 27, and haredi military enlistment has become a major point of division before voters go to the polls. Parties disagree over whether yeshiva students should continue receiving exemptions from IDF service. Shas and United Torah Judaism (UTJ), long-standing partners in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, have faced recent criticism over their position on conscription.

The haredi parties encouraged Netanyahu’s 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 lawmakers made progress on contentious legislation they had promoted.

IDF Manpower Warning

The IDF has repeatedly warned of an urgent manpower shortage. In March, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir said the IDF could soon collapse if no solution was found.

Opposition leaders in the bloc seeking to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned Deri’s position and criticized the premier’s partnership with the haredi parties. Former prime minister Naftali Bennett, who leads the B’Yachad party, linked the coalition dispute to the burden on those serving in the military.

“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,” Bennett said. 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 also said a vote for Netanyahu, [Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich, or Deri would support what he called “draft evasion.” He cited 150 days of reserve duty a year and billions of shekels transferred each year from those who serve to those who evade service.

Opposition Criticism

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 said the policy would mean “an even greater burden on those who serve, hundreds more days of reserve duty, and further extensions of mandatory service for active-duty soldiers.” The dispute is now a defining issue. Deri’s demand, the IDF’s manpower warning, and the opposition’s criticism have shaped negotiations ahead of the October 27 vote.