Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Shas party left Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government Wednesday over stalled legislation that would formalize military exemptions for religious students. However, despite leaving the government, Shas leaders said they won’t support no-confidence votes before the Knesset’s summer recess begins July 27.
Israel’s army faces critical personnel shortages after 21 months of continuous warfare. Last month, IDF officials told lawmakers they need approximately 12,000 new recruits, including 7,000 combat soldiers, and want to draft 4,800 Haredi men annually. Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics projections show Haredim becoming Israel’s fastest-growing population segment, likely reaching 16 percent of all citizens by decade’s end.
In 2024, Israel’s High Court ruled that blanket exemptions for ultra-Orthodox communities violated equality principles. Previously, Haredi men studying full-time in yeshivot automatically received deferrals under arrangements dating to Israel’s founding.
However, government officials have so far failed to advance promised legislation codifying Haredi military exemptions after months of negotiations. Knesset Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Yuli Edelstein had brokered a compromise bill but withdrew it from consideration in recent days when talks collapsed.
According to local Israeli media, three unresolved issues derailed negotiations: canceling draft notices already sent to yeshiva students, determining control over exemption committees, and setting financial penalties for seminaries missing enlistment targets.
Edelstein wants military commanders maintaining full oversight of exemptions while imposing harsh sanctions on religious institutions. His proposal would eliminate state funding entirely for seminaries where fewer than 75 percent of students meet government recruitment quotas.
Shas’s departure follows United Torah Judaism, which walked out Monday for identical reasons. Both departures leave Netanyahu with just 50 seats in parliament’s 120-member Knesset, though his coalition remains technically intact for now.
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid responded to Shas’s departure by declaring that Netanyahu now heads an “illegitimate” government without a mandate anymore.
“A minority government cannot send soldiers to battle. A minority government cannot decide who will live and who will die. A minority government cannot decide the fate of Gaza, reach arrangements with Syria or Saudi Arabia,” he said. “It cannot continue to transfer billions to the corrupt and the military draft dodgers at the expense of taxpayers.
Many secular Israelis question why some communities avoid shared defense burdens while reserve soldiers serve extended deployments in Gaza and Lebanon. Ultra-Orthodox parties insist exemptions protect religious identity and community values essential to preserving Jewish scholarship.
Israel’s longest-serving prime minister now has roughly ten days before parliamentary recess to resolve coalition tensions or risk government collapse when lawmakers return in October.
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