JERUSALEM — Haredi parties Shas and United Torah Judaism continued their boycott of coalition votes on Monday, June 22, 2026, delaying legislation from reaching the Knesset plenum. The boycott centers on a dispute over the Basic Law: Torah Study bill and recent police arrests of Haredi draft evaders.

The Basic Law: Torah Study bill seeks to enshrine Torah study in the country's Basic Law and passed its preliminary reading earlier in June 2026. Shas Party leader Arye Deri attributed the boycott to a recent rise in police arrests of Haredi draft evaders. "The violent arrests of Torah learners must stop! We have informed the coalition chairman that, as long as the law to stop the arrests and the Basic Law: Torah Study are not advanced, we will not support any coalition legislation," Deri stated.

Knesset lawmakers voted 48-35 to transfer the bill to the House Committee for advancement. Degel Hatorah leader MK Moshe Gafni, who sponsored the bill, expressed frustration during a Knesset House Committee discussion. "I am informing you unequivocally: I do not intend to humiliate myself once again. I have had enough of promises that were never fulfilled," Gafni said.

Knesset legal adviser Sagit Afik warned that the law should be discussed in the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee. "The legal advisory position is that the law should be discussed in the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee," Afik told the panel. She added, "Pressure and workload do not override, in my view, a proper legislative process. This transfer raises a serious difficulty that may undermine the integrity of the legislative process." The bill was previously scheduled for the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee, led by MK Simcha Rothman of the Religious Zionist Party. Rothman stated the decision to transfer the legislation was due to complex scheduling constraints and an unusual burden on the legislative agenda of his committee. The House Committee is led by coalition whip MK Ofir Katz, a member of the Likud party.

In April 2026, the High Court of Justice ordered the state to take concrete steps to revoke key financial benefits from draft evaders and to move toward criminal enforcement against Haredi men who evade military service. Haredi parties are also pushing to advance a bill changing daycare subsidy eligibility criteria to be based solely on a mother's income.