Shas denies that Deri encouraged draft evasion in comments at Jerusalem yeshiva

By Sam Sokol 11 August 2025, 1:51 pm

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Sam 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"

Chairman Aryeh Deri attends a meeting of the Shas party Council of Torah Sages in Jerusalem, July 16, 2025. (Flash90)

The ultra-Orthodox Shas party denies that chairman Aryeh Deri encouraged draft evasion, a week after he was caught on tape telling yeshiva students that they should not even think about abandoning their studies to enlist in the army.

“To all those spreading the lie that Rabbi Aryeh Deri encouraged draft-dodging – this is a slanderous falsehood,” the party says in a statement, insisting that he had “never called for draft-dodging or for not serving.”

“He spoke words of encouragement to students of a small yeshiva in Jerusalem, aged 15-16, and emphasized that Torah study is the foundation of the spiritual and security existence of the Jewish people,” the party says.

Shas argues that as a longtime member of the security cabinet under multiple governments, Deri has worked “day and night for the security of Israel and the preservation of IDF soldiers’ lives. Shas follows in the path of our master, the late Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, of blessed memory, who firmly protested any harm to Torah students, while also holding great respect for IDF soldiers who risk their lives for the people and always warmly blessed them.”

While not a minister, Deri is a regular observer in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet and is closely involved in security issues.

In remarks made late last month at the Shaar HaMelech yeshiva in Jerusalem and aired by the i24News network last week, Deri could be heard discouraging the students from enlisting, stating: “God forbid it should occur to anyone here in a moment of weakness that maybe at a time like this when the people of Israel are in a state of war… that anybody should, God forbid, perhaps think… maybe we really need to do something different, maybe we need to contribute. God forbid.”

The Haredi political parties have been pushing hard for the passage of legislation enabling most ultra-Orthodox young men to continue to avoid military conscription or other national service, in the wake of last year’s High Court decision that such exemptions are illegal on equality grounds. The government’s failure to advance such legislation led to Shas quitting the government last month, although it has remained part of the coalition.