Likud has signaled that it accepts a key demand from the ultra-Orthodox Shas party: passing legislation regulating military exemptions for Haredi men immediately after the election and before the next government is formally established.
Likud spokesman Guy Levy told Kol Barama radio Thursday that the party hopes to advance the legislation as part of the coalition agreements.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
(Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)
“We very much hope to pass the draft law even before the government is formed, as part of the coalition agreements,” Levy said. “That is definitely the direction.”
His remarks came after Shas lawmaker Yoav Ben Tzur said earlier Thursday in an interview with Moran Azulay on ynet’s “120 and One” podcast that the party would make passage of the law a condition for joining a future coalition.
“If we need to enter a coalition, a draft law will pass before the government is formed,” Ben Tzur said. “Unequivocally. Everyone agrees on this, and that is how it will be.”
The legislation promoted by the current coalition, commonly referred to by its supporters as the “draft law,” is intended to regulate the status of tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox men who have not enlisted in the IDF.
The coalition has so far failed to pass such legislation. In the meantime, it has taken steps aimed at limiting arrests of Haredi draft evaders, including a law that effectively prevents police and the IDF from carrying out proactive arrests for three months.
Ben Tzur said Shas made a mistake after the 2022 election by failing to insist that a military exemption law be passed before other major coalition initiatives.
“If we had done it before the reform,” he said, referring to the government’s judicial overhaul, “everything would have been settled and there would have been no problem for anyone.”
Ben Tzur also stressed that Shas intends to remain aligned with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Likud after the coming election.
“We are going with the faith-based bloc,” he said. “We are believers, and I don’t think we can sit with the other side. Even brothers argue, but they remain brothers. We feel part of the base.”