A dramatic last-minute move by Shas chairman Aryeh Deri late last night halted a planned vote on Israel’s Arrangements Law, sharply increasing pressure on Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and throwing the coalition’s legislative timetable into uncertainty.

After dozens of hours of marathon discussions in the Knesset House Committee on splitting sections of the Arrangements Law and assigning them to various committees, the vote was expected to proceed. However, moments before it was to be held, Deri instructed Shas lawmakers not to allow the vote to take place. As a result, the committee dispersed without a decision, and the vote was postponed — for now — until next week, contingent on Shas agreeing to cooperate with advancing the budget and the Arrangements Law.

Behind the scenes, Deri’s move reflects growing chareidi anger over continued delays in legislating a new draft law and formally regulating the status of yeshiva students. The frustration has been compounded by ongoing disputes between the chareidi parties and the Knesset’s legal advisers regarding the framework of the proposed legislation.

Because of last night’s maneuver, the Arrangements Law is now considered to be in real jeopardy. The coalition has less than 30 days remaining to pass the 2026 state budget and the accompanying Arrangements Law. The legislation includes several major economic measures, among them a dairy market reform promoted by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has previously warned that failure to pass the reform would lead him to push for the immediate dissolution of the Knesset.

While Shas lawmakers deliberately stayed away from the committee discussions in order to avoid voting directly against the coalition, Housing and Construction Minister Yitzchok Goldknopf did attend the debates and voted against the proposals alongside opposition members.

A Shas Knesset member said this morning: “From the very first moment, we said we would not allow the budget to pass without regulating the status of yeshiva students, and that remains our position. We agreed to support the first reading in order to give a few more days to advance the draft law, but unfortunately, that did not happen.”

{Matzav.com}