From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, January 29, 2025
Shas MK doubles down on Deri’s threat to topple government over Haredi draft exemption law
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"
Shas MK Erez Malul doubles down on the ultra-Orthodox party leader Aryeh Deri’s threat to topple Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government if the coalition fails to pass a bill exempting Haredim from military service.
Speaking with Kan radio, the lawmaker declares that should the bill not pass, “the government does not have a majority.”
He says that without his party, Netanyahu does not have the votes to pass a budget: “United Torah Judaism will not vote in favor of the budget, [Otzma Yehudit chairman Itamar] Ben Gvir is in the opposition. How will this pass? This is not a threat, this is an ultimatum.”
The 2025 state budget must be passed by the end of March or the government will automatically fall, triggering early elections.
Speaking with ultra-Orthodox radio station Kol Baramah on Tuesday, Deri gave Netanyahu two months to regulate the status of yeshiva students, warning that if “it’s not regulated, we’ll go to elections.”
The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee is currently debating a bill regulating ultra-Orthodox enlistment.
“Who would have dreamed that Torah scholars would be called criminals,” Deri asked, complaining that members of the national religious community have become “partners in this hate campaign.”
The Times of Israel Community.