Shas Pushes Bill to Halt Arrests of Yeshiva Students

Former minister Ariel Atias and Shas MK Yinon Azoulay met with Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs in the past day in an effort to advance legislation that would stop the arrests of yeshiva students.

According to Kikar HaShabbat, the meeting focused on building an agreed legal framework that would halt criminal proceedings against Torah learners whose status has not been regulated since the collapse of the previous draft arrangement.

At the end of the meeting, it was agreed that Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman MK Boaz Bismuth will convene the committee next week to begin advancing the legislation.

Senior coalition officials said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised that the bill to stop the arrests will have a coalition majority and will pass in the coming days. However, Charedi officials remain cautious, noting that Netanyahu previously promised a majority for the daycare subsidy bill before later freezing it.

The move is being led by Shas chairman Aryeh Deri, who has been pushing in recent weeks for a temporary solution through the draft law already under discussion in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

Deri’s plan is to split the draft law and pass a one-year temporary order that would include only the transitional provisions. Under the proposal, financial sanctions would remain in place, but criminal proceedings and arrests against yeshiva students would be frozen.

Shas argues that Torah learners have been pushed into the status of “criminals” because there is currently no law regulating their status, while the political system is unable to pass a full draft law before the next election and the formation of a new government.

The party’s proposal would freeze criminal enforcement for one year, leaving the next government to decide on a broader permanent framework.

Deri wants the temporary order advanced by splitting the existing draft bill, allowing the measure to move directly toward its second and third readings instead of beginning a new and lengthy legislative process from scratch.

For Shas, the effort is meant to deliver an immediate answer to the arrests issue without resolving the larger draft dispute. For Netanyahu, it is another test of whether he can still provide the Charedi parties with enough legislative movement to keep them aligned with the coalition.