In the shadow of the promotion of the draft exemption law: Shas campaign presents an IDF soldier
In its first election video, the party presents a family consisting of a soldier and a yeshiva student, in an attempt to appeal to the traditional audience. The presentation of a united front draws criticism due to Shas's central role in promoting the draft exemption, and after it threatened to bring down the government against the backdrop of the crisis.
The Shas party launched its election campaign this evening (Saturday night) with a video emphasizing messages of unity between yeshiva students and those serving in the army. The move takes place in parallel with the efforts of the party chairman, Aryeh Deri, to pass a draft exemption law for the ultra-Orthodox.
The first video in the election campaign presents an Israeli family around the Shabbat table, with one son studying in a yeshiva and his brother wearing an IDF uniform. The central message conveyed by the party is that everyone contributes to the people of Israel in their own way. With this move, the party is aiming at its traditional target audience, which constitutes about four mandates, with the goal of restoring public support for it after a period of political radicalization.
Earlier this year, about a month and a half before the "Iron Swords" war, Shas issued an explicit ultimatum to the coalition, when its spokespeople clarified that the party would not support the state budget if the draft exemption law was not approved in the second and third readings.
