From the Liveblog of
Monday, February 9, 2026
Haredi support for splitting Arrangements Law still up in the air
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Neither the ultra-Orthodox Shas party nor United Torah Judaism’s Degel HaTorah faction has decided how they will vote on the Arrangements Bill this evening, leaving the critical budget bill’s advancement up in the air.
According to Hebrew media reports, only hours before the scheduled vote in the Knesset plenum, representatives of both parties announced in their respective faction meetings that the issue was still undecided.
“We are coordinated with Shas regarding the discussion on the Conscription Law and the vote on splitting the Arrangements Law; a decision has still not been made on how to vote,” the Israel Hayom daily quotes UTJ MK Uri Maklev as stating.
Emess political reporter Shalom Stein, meanwhile, quotes Shas MK Yinon Azoulay telling the party’s lawmakers that “there is still no decision on how to vote on the Arrangements Law.”
Earlier today, a Degel HaTorah source with knowledge of the matter told The Times of Israel that this evening’s planned vote to split the annual Arrangements Law from a package of economic reforms being pushed by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich as part of the 2026 state budget is expected to pass.
According to the source, his party will vote in favor of the motion after the ultra-Orthodox parties closed the gaps in their disagreements on the coalition’s Haredi draft exemption bill with Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee legal advisor Miri Frenkel Shor.
The Times of Israel Community.