Likud accepts Shas's condition: "The direction is a draft law before the government is formed"

Likud spokesperson Guy Levy said today (Thursday) on Radio "Kol Berama": "We very much hope to legislate the draft law even before the formation of the government, as part of the coalition agreements. This is definitely the direction."

Levy made these remarks in response to Shas MK Yoav Ben-Tzur, who said earlier today in an interview on the ynet podcast "120 and One":

"If we have to enter the coalition, a draft law will pass before the government is formed. Unequivocally, this is agreed upon by everyone and that is how it will be."

The law that the coalition attempted to pass, referred to as the "draft law," was intended to regulate the exemption of tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox individuals from military service. Having failed to pass such legislation, the coalition took steps to prevent the arrest of ultra-Orthodox draft evaders, including a law effectively prohibiting the police and the IDF from conducting proactive arrests for a period of three months.

According to Ben-Tzur, Shas made a mistake in 2022 by not signing a coalition agreement that would have prioritized the passage of an exemption law. "If we had done it before the judicial reform, everything would have been settled and there would have been no problem for anyone," he added.

Ben-Tzur also emphasized that the party intends to align with Benjamin Netanyahu and Likud after the upcoming elections. "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 between brothers there are quarrels, but they remain brothers. We feel part of the base."