Haredi parties deny report about deal with Netanyahu to pass array of pre-election bills

Shas and United Torah Judaism on Tuesday denied reports that they have reached a deal with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to advance some of their legislative agenda in exchange for supporting coalition priorities, following a meeting with the premier.

The meeting between Netanyahu, Shas party chairman Aryeh Deri and Degel HaTorah faction chair Moshe Gafni came after all bills were again removed from the Knesset plenum’s agenda due to the Haredi parties’ boycott of coalition legislation.

The boycott, which is now in its second week, was initially prompted by the coalition’s refusal to advance to a plenum vote on the so-called Daycare Law, which would restore daycare subsidies for the children of draft evaders, but has since grown to encompass other Haredi conscription-related demands.

Haredi legislators, who began the process of dissolving the Knesset in May over the coalition’s failure to pass a controversial law restoring yeshiva students’ draft exemptions, have since pushed for the passage of legislation declaring Torah study a foundational value of the State of Israel, restoring daycare subsidies to the children of draft dodgers, and halting the arrests of evaders.

According to the Ynet news site, the sides agreed to hold the upcoming Knesset election — which must be held by October 27 — on October 20, with the Haredim also agreeing to back the coalition’s bills to split the role of the attorney general and establish a politically appointed commission of inquiry into Hamas’s onslaught of October 7, 2023.

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In return, the report said the coalition would back a Haredi-backed quasi-constitutional Basic Law seeking to give Torah scholars the same rights as military veterans, and a bill to prevent the arrests of yeshiva students who evade the military draft.

There is a limited amount of time to pass these bills, as the pre-election parliamentary recess is likely to begin on July 16.

The report said the so-called Daycare Law would not be advanced under the deal.

Spokespeople for the prime minister did not reply to The Times of Israel’s request for comment.

In a joint statement after the report came out, the two ultra-Orthodox factions stated that “contrary to reports, there is no ‘deal’ with Prime Minister Netanyahu. Our demand to advance the Basic Law: Torah Study and the law preventing the arrest of Torah scholars stands on its own, is not contingent on anything, and we have not given up on any demand.”

“To the extent that we see these laws are being practically advanced, we will be able to resume voting in favor of coalition legislation, in accordance with the instructions of the Torah sages,” the two parties added.

The basic law is explicitly designed to shield draft evaders by anchoring Torah study in legislation as equal to military service, in order to circumvent High Court rulings. It has faced backlash from both government critics and supporters for effectively equating Torah study to army service and conferring upon yeshiva students equal rights to those who serve in the army.

A preliminary reading earlier this month faced intense opposition and a small mutiny from several coalition lawmakers in the Knesset, with four ultimately voting against it: Likud MKs Dan Illouz and Yuli Edelstein, Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel and Religious Zionism MK Moshe Solomon.

In a previous statement sent less than an hour before their denial, the two parties indicated that Netanyahu had committed to the immediate advancement of the Basic Law: Torah Study and legislation halting the detention of ultra-Orthodox draft evaders.

“Today we held a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and conveyed to him on behalf [of our rabbinic leadership] an unequivocal demand to immediately advance the Basic Law on Torah Study and the law to stop the arrests of Torah students, by convening the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and the Knesset House Committee this week,” the two parties stated.

“We made it clear that if we do not see practical actions as we demanded, we will support dissolving the Knesset as early as next week. The prime minister clarified during the meeting that he is committed to the approval of these laws and will work toward their rapid advancement.”

The statements didn’t mention the so-called Daycare Law, indicating that the Haredi parties had likely given up on the legislation, which until now has been one of their highest priorities.

In response to the reported deal, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said Netanyahu was carrying out a “liquidation sale of the state.”

“Giving the Haredim our money and giving draft evaders money instead of exacting justice on them. The time has come to change this exploitative and extortionate government with a new agreement in which we all together change the country’s priorities,” he wrote on X.

Similarly, The Democrats party chair Yair Golan accused Netanyahu of “selling Israel for the ultra-Orthodox,” vowing to fight the apparently agreed-upon bills.

Gafni and Deri met with Netanyahu after earlier declining to attend a sit-down with the premier and the heads of his coalition parties, the Ynet news site reported. United Torah Judaism’s Agudat Yisrael faction, led by Yitzhak Goldknopf, did not appear to have sent a representative to the meeting, Ynet reported.

A spokesman for Gafni told The Times of Israel that Degel HaTorah, UTJ’s second faction, had declined to meet with Netanyahu and his coalition allies “because we are in the opposition and it was a meeting of the coalition leaders.”

The refusal to attend the larger meeting was coordinated between Goldknopf and Gafni, who did not want to “participate in a performance” by Netanyahu, who wanted to demonstrate that he was holding onto a strong coalition, sources in UTJ told Channel 13 news.

“The violent arrests of Torah students must stop! We informed the coalition chairman that as long as the law to stop arrests and the Basic Law on Torah study are not advanced, we will not support any coalition legislation,” Deri told party lawmakers during their weekly faction meeting on Monday afternoon.

Senior Shas and UTJ officials who spoke with the ultra-Orthodox Behadrei Haredim news site on Saturday evening said that they felt thwarted in their efforts to force the premier to advance their own agenda by holding coalition legislation hostage.

Over the weekend, Hebrew media reported that Netanyahu was considering pushing the coalition’s Knesset dissolution bill through its final two readings in the coming days under pressure from coalition officials, who are concerned about advancing the Haredi legislative initiatives ahead of the election in light of widespread public opposition.

Behadrei Haredim cited sources in the Prime Minister’s Office as saying that Netanyahu met with Deri last week to discuss the bills, during which tempers flared, and Deri was harshly critical of the prime minister.

Meanwhile, Haredi activists have increased protests against the draft and arrests of evaders, with rallies often marred by violence.

Last week, dozens of extremist ultra-Orthodox demonstrators rallied outside the home of Supreme Court President Isaac Amit in Mevasseret Zion to protest the arrest of a Haredi military draft dodger.

At the beginning of June, ultra-Orthodox rioters attacked Sohlberg’s home, smashing windows and causing property damage, while trying to break into the residence in the West Bank settlement of Alon Shvut.

The ultra-Orthodox Agudat Yisrael party is set to send out large convoys of hundreds of cars from Haredi communities across the country on Wednesday, culminating in a massive anti-conscription demonstration outside the Neve Tzedek (Beit Lid) military prison in Kfar Yona, where a number of draft evaders are incarcerated.