Shas MK Michael Malkieli Says Opponents of Daycare and Draft Bills Endanger Right-Wing Bloc
Former minister and Shas MK Michael Malkieli attacked coalition members who oppose the daycare bill and the draft bill in an interview with Channel 7, saying they are threatening the stability of the right-wing bloc. He discussed the coalition crisis around the Basic Law on Torah study and the daycare bill, and said that from the moment the government was formed, the partners understood that regulating the status of Torah students was a central goal meant to prevent them from being defined as criminals or draft evaders.
Malkieli said several options were considered over time to advance that arrangement, including the Basic Law on Torah study, which he said was already included in the coalition agreements. He argued that the effort was meant to give legal standing to Torah study even if legal objections were raised against the draft law. According to him, attempts to move the legislation forward were blocked throughout the current term by various actors, including coalition lawmakers and people in the justice system.
He said, “It is impossible to remain in a bloc, in a coalition, in the Knesset, in a government, that does not know how to regulate the status of Torah students.” He also criticized enforcement policy against ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students, saying it comes at the expense of fighting crime and terrorism. “Allocating resources to persecuting Torah students is the biggest reward criminals in Israel can get,” he said.
Malkieli also blasted coalition MKs who oppose the daycare bill and the draft bill, saying they are acting against the values of the voters who sent them to the Knesset and are helping moves against the religious study world. He singled out Minister Ofir Sofer, MKs Moshe Solomon and Dan Illouz, and said, “You are chasing us in the media and justifying Gali Baharav-Miara. You are persecuting Torah students. You are bringing down the right-wing bloc.” He warned that their actions could bring Yisrael Beytenu, Yair Lapid, Yair Golan and Mansour Abbas to power, and concluded that those who vote against the daycare bill are effectively defecting from the right-wing bloc to Baharav-Miara and the far left.
