The Shas parliamentary faction sent an ultimatum letter this evening (Monday) to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Coalition Chairman Ofir Katz, demanding that the proposed “Basic Law: Torah Study" be brought for a preliminary reading vote as early as this coming Wednesday.
The party made its position unmistakably clear: approval of the bill-designed to circumvent rulings of the High Court of Justice and directives of the Attorney General by enshrining Torah study as a constitutional foundational value of the State of Israel-is an indispensable condition for its continued support of government legislation.
If a majority for the bill's approval is not secured, Shas announced that it will completely cease participating in coalition votes and will vote down any other coalition-sponsored legislation brought before the Knesset plenum.
“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."
Shas emphasized that the only way to prevent the loss of yeshiva funding and tax benefits is to create a constitutional protective barrier. The proposed law is expected to place those who devote themselves to Torah study on an equal footing with those who perform military service, thereby eliminating the legal basis for claims of 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."
To increase pressure on the prime minister, Shas concluded the letter with a direct quotation from a previous speech Netanyahu delivered in the Knesset plenum, in which he praised the Torah-learning community:
“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."
“Words of great force," Shas concluded.