Shas and United Torah Judaism on Monday said they would not vote in favor of coalition legislation, because the daycare bill was not placed on the Knesset agenda as planned.
"We have just informed the coalition chairman that, due to the failure to place the Daycare Bill on the Knesset agenda, we will not vote today in favor of coalition-sponsored legislation in the Knesset plenum,” Shas and United Torah Judaism stated in a joint message.
The haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties support the bill, which would change the eligibility criteria for daycare subsidies and base it on a mother’s income.
Opponents of the bill say it would expand state-funded daycare subsidies for draft evaders, even though the IDF is said to have a severe manpower shortage.
The coalition was said to have lacked a majority to pass the daycare subsidies bill in its first reading on Monday. Several coalition MKs, including from the Likud, said they would vote against the legislation.
Shas threatens to halt coalition over Torah Study, Basic Law bill
Last week, Shas threatened to not support coalition legislation if a bill that would enshrine Torah study as a Basic Law was not advanced. The bill passed its preliminary reading on Wednesday after receiving government backing.
Basic Law: Torah Study, which the haredi parties support, would change the status of yeshiva students who do not serve and enable them to continue receiving state benefits.
Opponents of the bill say it would equate IDF soldiers to haredi draft evaders.
The haredi parties have encouraged the coalition to advance legislation that would not increase haredi enlistment. The IDF has repeatedly warned of an urgent manpower shortage after more than two years of war.
In April, the High Court of Justice ordered that the state take concrete steps to revoke key financial benefits from draft evaders and to move toward criminal enforcement against haredi men who evade military service.
In March, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir said the IDF could soon collapse if there is no solution to the manpower shortage.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the haredi parties were said to have agreed to move the election date to October 20 rather than hold it in September, as the haredi parties have sought. In return for their support, the haredi parties would receive advancement of the Basic Law: Torah Study and the daycare subsidies bill.
The tensions come amid the coalition’s last Knesset session to advance its legislation before the upcoming elections, which are scheduled to take place no later than October 27.