Deri: "There will be no government without regulating the status of Torah students"

Shas chairman Aryeh Deri has for the first time publicly set a condition for forming the next government: no government will be established with Shas's support without approval of the exemption from conscription law. In an interview, Deri stated that regulating the status of yeshiva students will be a first condition in any government Shas is part of, and attacked the dismissed attorney general, calling her an "anarchist."

Shas chairman Aryeh Deri has for the first time publicly set a clear condition for forming the next government: no government will be established with Shas's support without approval of the exemption from conscription law, which regulates the status of yeshiva students. In an interview with Kikar HaShabbat, Deri stated that regulating the status of Torah students will be Shas's first condition in any government it is part of, and asked: "How can one accept that this sword is hanging over the detainees?" Deri harshly attacked the dismissed attorney general, whom he called an "anarchist," and claimed that the renewal of detentions is a political event designed to attack the Haredi sector, and that "everyone admits that no detention brings a soldier." According to him, the prime minister managed to avoid the issue due to security events. Meanwhile, United Torah Judaism chairman Yaakov Asher also said in an interview that his party will not enter a government that does not pass the law regulating the status of yeshiva students. These statements come against the backdrop of elections in two weeks, placing the conscription issue at the center of political discourse.