The head of the Israeli religious Shas party threatens to dissolve the government if the Haredim aren’t exempted from military service

The head of the Israeli Shas party, Aryeh Deri, threatened on Tuesday to dissolve the government within two months if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not intervene to organize the issue of exempting religious Jews (Haredi) from military service.

Deri told local Israeli radio station on Tuesday evening, “I believe that the prime minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) and the heads of the coalition are determined to regulate the situation of Torah students”.

He added, “We’ve a short period of time to solve this problem, within the next two months… If not, and this is the test, then fine, we will go to elections”.

The Shash party holds 6 ministerial positions in the Israeli government and has 11 seats in the Knesset out of 120, while the United Torah Judaism party, which is also demanding the exemption of the Haredim, holds two ministerial positions and has 7 seats in the Knesset.

The ruling coalition has 68 seats in the Knesset, and 61 are enough for the government to survive, according to the Israeli political system.

In the same interview, Deri addressed the statements of the chairman of the Knesset Education Committee from the Shas party, MK Yossi Taib, who said on Tuesday morning, “My son received a draft order… If he is arrested, he will continue to study Torah from inside prison”.

The head of the Shas party said, “He is telling the truth… He had a son who studies the Torah, and he raised him to study the Torah and he will do so”.

Deri’s statements came at a time when the ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism recently expressed their support for completing the ceasefire deal in Gaza, and some in the government coalition linked this support to their desire to pass a law exempting the ultra-Orthodox from military service.

The issue of recruiting religious Israelis is a source of widespread controversy, as non-religious political parties support it while religious parties that are partners in the government oppose it, saying that the religious people’s mission is to study the Torah.

Last June, the Israeli Supreme Court ordered the government to recruit everyone, including religious people, but the government is trying to pass a law that allows exceptions in recruiting religious people, which has sparked anger among opposition parties who call the law the evasion law.

Netanyahu is trying to rally support within the Knesset for the bill before it’s put to a vote.