Shas quits its coalition positions to protest lack of Haredi draft legislation

By Sam Sokol 23 October 2025, 11:21 am

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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 announces that it will withdraw from all coalition positions it holds in the Knesset, giving up the chairmanships of parliamentary committees to protest the lack of a law regulating the conscription of yeshiva students.

Despite this, the party is not quitting the coalition and will not topple the government.

“In accordance with the directive of the Council of Torah Scholars… according to which the government must bring to a vote the law to regulate the status of yeshiva students no later than the opening of the winter session of the Knesset — which unfortunately has not yet been implemented — Shas announces its withdrawal from its coalition roles in the Knesset,” the party says in a statement.

The party pledges to “continue to lead the struggle against the political and cruel persecution campaign directed against students of the holy yeshivas, who study Torah day and night for the sake of all Israel and for the success of the soldiers,” adding that “when the status of yeshiva students is settled, Shas will return to its positions in the government and the Knesset.”

In the meantime, it will “operate in full coordination with the Haredi factions and will continuously consult with the Council of Torah Sages regarding its position on votes in the Knesset plenum,” the statement continues, implying that Shas may not feel bound by coalition discipline.

This decision means that Shas MKs will no longer chair the Education and Health Committee and the Special Committee for Bridging Social Gaps in the Periphery.

In July, the United Torah Judaism party left Netanyahu’s coalition after being presented with a copy of a proposed enlistment bill prepared by then-Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein, which contained harsh sanctions against draft evaders. Shas soon followed UTJ in quitting the government and resigning its cabinet positions, but had, until now, stayed in the coalition and retained its committees chairmanships.