After a day of silence, Shas has joined calls to dissolve the Knesset, while signaling a markedly different tone from its Lithuanian counterpart and maintaining its loyalty to Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu.

The party’s newspaper, Haderech, published its long-awaited response, but the wording underscored a significant contrast in political approach. While Degel Hatorah declared a complete break from the bloc and a loss of personal trust in Netanyahu, Shas framed the situation as internal disappointment rather than a rupture.

The headline in the paper read, “Without progress on the law, there is no point in maintaining the current government,” reflecting a softer stance. Notably, Shas is not demanding the immediate passage of the legislation as a condition for the government’s survival, but rather its advancement. This phrasing leaves Netanyahu room to maneuver and indicates that Shas, unlike Degel Hatorah, is not rushing to sever ties with the prime minister.

At the same time, Shas is already looking ahead to the next government, setting a clear condition that draft exemptions must be resolved before any future coalition is formed, as part of pre-coalition agreements.

The tone adopted by Shas is far more measured than the sharp rhetoric seen in other charedi outlets. Terms such as “pain” and “disappointment” suggest the posture of a loyal partner expressing frustration, rather than one seeking to dismantle the ideological alliance. For Shas, the primary dispute at this stage centers on the timing of elections, not on its broader affiliation with the national-religious camp.

In a special column published in the party’s paper, the ideological position was made clear: “Whoever naively believes that a left-wing government will solve everything is living in illusions.” The piece argued that the only unifying factor of the opposing bloc is “hatred of the charedim,” dismissing the idea of cooperation with the left as unrealistic.

In summary, while Shas has followed Degel Hatorah in formally backing the push to dissolve the Knesset, it has done so while carefully preserving its place within the right-wing bloc. The party’s message to Netanyahu is clear: It remains aligned with him, but believes the current government has reached the end of its ability to advance key religious priorities. The expectation is that both sides will meet again at the ballot box and return strengthened under the same political alliance.