Haredi parties deny any deal with Netanyahu

Hours after Aryeh Deri and Moshe Gafni issued a joint ultimatum that drew a wave of reactions and criticism, Degel HaTorah and Shas released a clarification on Tuesday saying they had not struck any political deal with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The parties said, “Contrary to reports, there is no ‘deal’ with Prime Minister Netanyahu.” They added that their demand to advance a Basic Law on Torah study and the bill to prevent arrests of Torah students stands on its own, is not conditioned on anything else, and that they have not given up any demand.

The Haredi parties also said that if they see the laws being advanced in practice, they could return to voting for coalition legislation, in line with the instructions of “the great rabbis of Israel.”