Shas delivered a sharply worded ultimatum Monday evening to Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and Coalition Chairman Ofir Katz, demanding that the proposed “Basic Law: Torah Study” be brought before the Knesset for a preliminary vote this Wednesday.
The party warned that passage of the legislation is now a non-negotiable condition for its continued backing of coalition initiatives. The bill seeks to establish Torah study as a constitutional value of the State of Israel, a move intended to override legal challenges stemming from rulings by the High Court of Justice and positions taken by the Attorney General.
Shas made clear that failure to secure a majority for the proposal would trigger a dramatic response. The party said it would stop supporting coalition legislation and oppose all government-backed bills brought to the Knesset floor.
“The Shas faction held a lengthy discussion today in light of the unprecedented and cruel persecution by the dismissed Attorney General against Torah scholars, unlike anything seen before,” the letter states. “Faction members expressed deep pain over a situation in which our finest sons, those devoted to Torah study and the Tribe of Levi of our generation, have become targets of persecution and humiliation. Woe unto us that this has come to pass in our days.”
Party leaders argued that constitutional protection is now essential to shield yeshivos and Torah learners from financial harm, including the potential loss of government funding and tax-related benefits. According to Shas, the legislation would place full-time Torah study on equal legal footing with military service, thereby removing arguments that the current arrangement constitutes discrimination.
“The time has come for a clear and unequivocal statement by the coalition regarding the central place of Torah in the State of Israel,” the party explained, reminding Netanyahu that this was an explicit commitment signed between Shas and the Likud in their coalition agreements. “The vote is a value-based, moral, and national statement, and it is essential at this time, in accordance with the worldview of the majority of the Jewish people and all components of the faith-based bloc.”
In an effort to intensify pressure on the prime minister, Shas concluded its message by citing Netanyahu’s own remarks from a previous Knesset address, in which he spoke passionately about the role of Torah in Jewish survival throughout history.
“The world of Torah has preserved us throughout all the years of exile. Torah study and the preservation of our heritage are what protected the Jewish people, and without them the Jewish people would not have survived. Without the Torah world, we would not exist here, nor would we have a future.”
Shas ended the letter by emphasizing the significance of those remarks, declaring: “Words of great force.”
{Matzav.com}