Deputy Minister Uri Maklev, Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri, led a behind-the-scenes effort to block Knesset’s dissolution, securing protections for yeshiva students from arrest amid looming IDF draft enforcement.
Behind the scenes of Thursday night’s understandings and the final decision to shoot down an opposition bill to dissolve the Knesset were many political figures, but two stood at the forefront: Deputy Minister Uri Maklev and Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri, acting through his envoy, former Minister Ariel Atias.
Their main objective was to protect Torah students from immediate imprisonment. Without legislation in place, all yeshiva students faced the risk of immediate arrest.
This was evident during a meeting of the Knesset Subcommittee on IDF Human Resources. IDF Personnel Division Head Brig. Gen. Shay Tayeb stated that the military planned to shorten the process of declaring someone a draft-dodger to just four months and to implement widespread enforcement, including police-backed arrest patrols.
“We intend to bring more creative measures that will meet people not just at Ben-Gurion Airport, but also in arrest patrols and so on,” he said.
This is precisely what Maklev and Deri aimed to prevent — and they succeeded.
“You have to understand that the sanctions imposed on a young haredi are severe, both personally and institutionally—from day one,” a haredi source told Arutz Sheva – Israel National News. “But we managed to spare Torah students in yeshivas and kollels from immediate prison sentences.
“It’s hard to swallow, but these were our choices,” the source added. “We ultimately held to our core mission in the Knesset: to once again regulate the status of yeshiva students and ensure they can stay in yeshiva and not behind bars — despite restrictions on driving licenses, travel, and more. But studying Torah — they will be able to do. Anyone who chooses not to study will serve.”
“Once the legal advisors of the Knesset and the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee adopted this principle, along with clear draft targets and economic sanctions, it was possible to move forward,” he said.
“That was the turning point, with the understanding that such a framework could be defended before the Supreme Court. Once Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman MK Yuli Edelstein gave the green light, the crisis was over.”
He noted that if progress on the Draft Law stalls, United Torah Judaism can at any point introduce a bill to dissolve the Knesset.
“That card is always on the table,” he said.
