Agudat Yisrael has reached preliminary understandings with the Change Bloc on a law to halt the arrests of yeshiva students before a new government is formed, a senior official in the chareidi party said on Sunday.
The official told Kikar HaShabbat reporter and commentator Yishai Cohen that progress has been made in the talks. According to the report, the proposed law would resolve the arrests issue, at least temporarily, until a permanent draft law is passed.
The official added a caveat. For Agudat Yisrael, the main goal remains a permanent draft law that provides a long-term solution for Torah learners. Chareidi lawmakers will not settle for a temporary measure, the official said, even one that ends the arrests of Torah students.
The Ashkenazi party's contacts with the Change Bloc stand in contrast to the position of Shas chairman MK Aryeh Deri. Kikar HaShabbat reported earlier that in closed-door conversations in recent days, Deri has strongly warned against chareidi lawmakers enabling the Change Bloc to form a government.
Deri argued that political promises from Change Bloc figures are not backed by real guarantees. "United Torah Judaism has no guarantees that the draft law will be passed," he said, according to the report.
He pointed to the parliamentary and legal timetable as the main obstacle. "The Knesset legal adviser has already stated that the draft law cannot be passed before a government is sworn in, so if they allow a government to be formed, there is no guarantee that they will pass the draft law," Deri said.
Deri also described the political balance that would follow the swearing-in of such a government. In his view, it would leave the chareidi parties with no parliamentary leverage. "It will not be possible to bring down the government, which has a majority with the Arabs, and on the budget they don't need the chareidim either," he told the people he spoke with.
The Shas leader called the idea of chareidi lawmakers backing a Change Bloc government "a dangerous step." He warned of the outcome for the Torah world: "It is a dangerous step for them to form a government on chareidi votes, and in the end we will be driven out of town without the status of yeshiva students being settled."
As chareidi politicians debate how best to secure the status of yeshiva students, Deri stressed that Shas's position is firm and will not change. "In any case, Shas will not hold talks with the Change Bloc," he said. He concluded: "The council decided that we are going with Netanyahu, and so it will be," referring to the party's Council of Torah Sages.
