Shas condemns attack on lawmaker’s son, apparently over draft exemption bill

The ultra-Orthodox Shas party issues a statement “strongly” condemning last night’s attack on the son of MK Yinon Azoulay, arguing that it harms the entire Haredi community.

Shas states that the attack was “a dangerous crossing of a red line” that “defames the entire Haredi public and causes a desecration of God’s name.” The party further demands that the police “bring the violent demonstrators and their leaders to justice,” insisting that “it is impossible for an extremist group to continue to terrorize the public and its elected officials, and to go unpunished again and again.”

Two suspects, both minors, were arrested over the incident in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod. They reportedly cursed their victim over Shas’s backing of a bill that would establish continued military service exemptions to full-time yeshiva students while purportedly increasing conscription among graduates of Haredi educational institutions.

Many Israelis object to the bill on the grounds that they do not believe it will increase ultra-Orthodox enlistment, despite coalition claims, while hardline Haredi elements object to legislation containing sanctions of any sort against members of their community.

Azoulay is a member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee currently debating the bill.

In a tweet, committee chairman Likud MK Boaz Bismuth slams the “outrageous and ugly violence” against Azoulay, stating that his work on the bill “only deepened my appreciation for your dedication and your true commitment to the people of Israel.”

“There is no room for compromises; full enforcement is required, and the law must be applied to the fullest extent against the offenders,” Bismuth writes.