"Stop Starving Children": Shas MKs Erupt at Attorney General in Stormy Knesset Showdown

A routine Knesset committee session erupted into chaos Tuesday as Shas lawmakers launched a blistering verbal assault on Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, accusing her of waging a systematic campaign against Israel's haredi community and forcing her to temporarily abandon the proceedings.

The confrontation unfolded during a Knesset Committee hearing examining MK Tally Gotliv's request for immunity from prosecution over allegations she exposed the identity of a Shin Bet operative. What began as a procedural discussion quickly devolved into a full-throated attack on the Attorney General's handling of haredi-related legal matters.

MK Yossi Tayeb of Shas fired the opening salvo, demanding to know whom the Attorney General had actually harmed with her policies. "Who did she hurt? Who? Haredi children," Tayeb declared, his voice rising as other coalition members joined the chorus.

MK Moshe Abutbul escalated the rhetoric dramatically, shouting that "the deranged Attorney General is persecuting the Torah world" and warning that such actions would not be tolerated. "She's persecuting children, she's persecuting yeshiva students, she's setting the entire country on fire," Abutbul charged, according to witnesses present in the committee room.

Throughout the tirade, Baharav-Miara remained silent, declining to respond to the accusations. As the verbal assault intensified, she rose from her seat and exited the chamber, returning only after committee chairman Yuli Edelstein restored order and the atmosphere cooled.

"She won't get the floor," Abutbul shouted at the Attorney General's back as she departed, underscoring the depth of animosity between coalition haredi lawmakers and the Justice Ministry's top legal authority.

The explosive confrontation came as tensions over haredi conscription and state funding for religious institutions reached a boiling point. In a separate Finance Committee session running simultaneously, Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon presented the Justice Ministry's firm opposition to proposed legislation that would maintain daycare subsidies for young yeshiva students who have received IDF draft orders.

The daycare subsidy bill represents a critical lifeline for haredi families, allowing married yeshiva students to continue receiving state support for childcare even after being classified as draft evaders. The Attorney General's office has argued the measure violates Supreme Court rulings and undermines efforts to enforce conscription laws equally across Israeli society.

Degel HaTorah chairman MK Moshe Gafni, who entered the Finance Committee session specifically to confront Limon, accused the Justice Ministry of expanding its campaign beyond military service to target haredi women in the workforce. "You've moved on to opposing haredi women who work? Antisemitism!" Gafni charged, triggering a fresh round of shouting matches as opposition lawmakers condemned his language.

The dual confrontations highlight the deepening crisis between Israel's coalition government and its legal establishment over policies affecting the haredi sector. With the controversial Basic Law: Torah Study already stripped of its most inflammatory provisions under pressure, and haredi leaders rallying their political representatives to resist any compromise on conscription, Tuesday's clashes suggest the battle is far from resolution.

Sources familiar with the Attorney General indicated she views the attacks as part of a coordinated effort to delegitimize her office's legal positions on haredi issues, particularly as the Supreme Court prepares to rule on multiple petitions challenging state funding for yeshiva students who refuse military service.