Shas chairman Aryeh Deri declared Wednesday that his party will neither join nor support Israel’s next government unless legislation is passed securing the status of yeshiva bochurim and protecting them from military conscription, establishing a firm condition for coalition negotiations ahead of the October 27 Knesset elections.

Speaking in an interview with Yishai Cohen of Kikar HaShabbat, Deri made clear that the demand would apply to any government seeking Shas’s participation or parliamentary backing, regardless of which political party is tasked with forming the coalition.

Deri said the position reflects explicit instructions from the Shas Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah and Rishon Letzion Rav Yitzchak Yosef, who have insisted that the status of those studying Torah must be legally secured.

“We are continuing in the path of Maran,” Deri said, referring to Rav Ovadia Yosef zt”l. “Maran told us to do everything, absolutely everything, to regulate the status of yeshiva students, with the principle being that anyone who studies Torah should be able to continue.”

Asked whether legislation protecting yeshiva bochurim would be Shas’s first condition for entering a government after the elections, Deri responded unequivocally.

“We have already declared this. Maran the Rishon Letzion said it himself, and I said it as well. There will be no government in Israel that Shas supports or participates in without regulating the status of yeshiva students. How can we accept this sword of arrests hanging over them?”

The declaration comes as the controversy surrounding the military draft has intensified, with renewed enforcement measures against yeshiva bochurim and growing concern within the chareidi community over the possibility of additional arrests.

Deri accused government legal officials of deliberately escalating the confrontation for political purposes, arguing that arrests of yeshiva students would accomplish nothing toward addressing the IDF’s manpower needs.

He claimed that Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and members of her office were attempting to use the draft controversy to generate protests and weaken Netanyahu’s political position ahead of the elections.

According to Deri, the prime minister had largely succeeded in preventing the draft issue from dominating the election campaign, partly because of the country’s ongoing security challenges. He alleged that opposition leaders and government legal officials were now seeking to bring the controversy back to the forefront.

Deri specifically accused the attorney general and her deputies of encouraging arrests in the expectation that they would provoke demonstrations by members of the Yerushalmi Faction.

He described the attorney general as an anarchist and accused her of acting maliciously, insisting that arresting yeshiva bochurim would not result in additional soldiers joining the military.

“Everyone admits that not a single arrest produces a soldier,” Deri said, arguing that the enforcement measures were also harmful to the army itself.

He concluded his criticism with a reference to the Jewish people’s history of overcoming persecution, declaring, “We survived Pharaoh, and we will survive this as well.”

Deri’s position closely mirrors the ultimatum recently issued by United Torah Judaism, whose chairman, MK Yaakov Asher, has likewise insisted that his party will not enter or support a government that fails to pass legislation regulating the status of yeshiva students.

Asher has emphasized that promises to address the issue at some unspecified future date will not be sufficient, and that the party expects concrete legislative action.

The declarations by both chareidi parties place the draft controversy at the center of potential coalition negotiations, with their leaders seeking assurances that the next government will address the issue before they agree to provide political support.

The latest statements also follow the disclosure earlier this week of remarks Deri made during a private gathering in Modiin Illit, in which he acknowledged the difficulty of achieving a comprehensive solution to the draft crisis under current political and legal circumstances.

In those remarks, reported by Israel’s Channel 13, Deri said senior rabbonim had instructed chareidi political leaders to gain time rather than expect an immediate resolution to the longstanding dispute.

“You cannot solve the problem. The instruction from the rabbonim was to buy time,” Deri was quoted as saying.

Those comments drew criticism from opposition figures, who accused the chareidi parties of deliberately delaying efforts to increase military enlistment.

Deri’s latest declaration, however, makes clear that Shas intends to insist on legislation protecting yeshiva students as a prerequisite for supporting the next coalition.

Opposition leaders Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Liberman responded sharply to Wednesday’s interview, accusing Deri of seeking to perpetuate military exemptions at a time when the IDF has repeatedly warned of serious personnel shortages.

Bennett argued that Netanyahu’s political alliance with the chareidi parties would place additional burdens on soldiers and reservists, while Liberman accused Deri of demanding permanent exemptions as the price of coalition support.

The dispute comes less than two weeks before Israelis are scheduled to vote, with the question of military service for chareidi men emerging as one of the most contentious issues separating the country’s political parties.