Shas leader Aryeh Deri has unveiled a new campaign promise aimed at strengthening Jewish religious practice in Israel, pledging to provide every Jewish boy turning 13 with a Bar Mitzvah package containing tefillin and a tallit.

The proposal, called “Tefillin for Every Child,” would also push for schools to establish designated spaces where students could put on tefillin and daven during the school day.

Deri presented the initiative as a response to what he views as growing efforts to limit religion’s place in public life. He pointed to recent remarks by Democrats chairman Yair Golan and a Tel Aviv city councilwoman who criticized what she described as the growing influence of religious and messianic activity in schools.

The Shas chairman argued that these debates raise broader questions about Israel’s Jewish character and the role of religious tradition in its public institutions.

The announcement comes as Shas faces political challenges ahead of the next election. The party, which currently holds 11 Knesset seats, has been polling below its previous strength, with some surveys projecting it to win around eight seats. Analysts have pointed to a possible shift among some former Shas voters toward Itamar Ben Gvir’s party, amid disagreements over yeshiva students’ military service and the aftermath of the Iron Swords War.

Deri’s pledge places religious identity and the role of Jewish observance in Israeli schools at the center of Shas’s campaign messaging. Kol Hakavod!