Shas minister defies party stance, calls on Haredim to serve in the military

Taking a position opposite that of his ultra-Orthodox party, Interior Minister Moshe Arbel (Shas) declares that Haredi Jews should serve in the Israeli armed forces.

Addressing a conference organized by the right-wing Israel National News outlet, Arbel says “it is possible and necessary to serve in the Israel Defense Forces, to remain Haredim even after the conclusion of service. This is the mission of the IDF and this is the mission of the State of Israel.”

This is not the first time that Arbel has broken ranks with Shas. Last April, he stated that there was no longer a “moral” justification to exempt ultra-Orthodox Jewish men who were not studying in a yeshiva from army service.”

“The reality after October 7 is that the ultra-Orthodox community must understand that it is no longer possible to continue like this,” he said at the time, prompting Shas to issue a statement insisting that “the subject of the conscription law and the status of yeshiva students is entrusted exclusively to the rabbis of the Council of Torah Sages” and party chief Aryeh Deri.

Arbel’s earlier comments echoed those of his fellow Shas Minister Ya’akov Margi, who told the Kikar Hashabbat website in February 2024 that members of the Haredi community not engaged in full-time Torah study should be drafted “by force.”

Deri has taken a harder line than Arbel and Margi. In an interview with ultra-Orthodox radio station Kol Berama last month, Deri gave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu two months to resolve the status of yeshiva students, warning that if the matter is “not resolved, we’ll go to elections.”

Shas subsequently backed down, with Deri reportedly conveying a message to the coalition that his ultimatum was a “slip of the tongue.”

בוידאו – האמירה המשמעותית של שר הפנים ארבל מש"ס: "צריך לשרת בצה"ל ולסיים כחרדים בסוף השירות" https://t.co/NhfVTUvym5 pic.twitter.com/GXR1PIaMLP

— יואלי ברים yoeli brim (@yoeli_brim) February 24, 2025