In remarks delivered last week at Yeshivas Shaar HaMelech in Yerushalayim, Shas party chairman Rav Aryeh Deri strongly urged yeshiva bochurim not to consider leaving the walls of the beis medrash, even in light of the ongoing war in Gaza.

“Chas v’shalom it should even enter the mind of a ben Torah, even in a moment of weakness,” Deri said, “that perhaps now, during this time of war, we should think about doing something different—to contribute in another way. Chas v’shalom.”

Deri, a close adviser on national security matters as a member of the Prime Minister’s inner cabinet, was responding to public discourse around growing calls for increased enlistment from chareidim. His remarks, captured on video and aired by i24News, were directed specifically at yeshiva bochurim, stressing their irreplaceable role in defending Klal Yisroel through Limud Torah.

The issue of military exemptions for lomdei Torah has become a national flashpoint, following a High Court ruling last year that invalidated the longstanding draft deferment system for yeshiva students on the grounds of “inequality.” The ruling has put immense pressure on the government to legislate new protections for bnei yeshiva—something that has yet to be finalized.

Last month, the Shas party temporarily left the government in protest over the delays in passing such legislation, though it has continued to support the coalition. Meanwhile, Defense Ministry officials say the IDF urgently needs an additional 12,000 soldiers due to prolonged wartime deployment of reserve units. Currently, approximately 80,000 chareidi men between the ages of 18 and 24 are eligible for military service but have been exempted due to full-time Torah study. About 2,700 enlisted in the past year, still far below the military’s target of 4,800.

“Our strength,” Deri told the bochurim, “is in our Torah. That is your contribution, and it is no less critical—no less heroic—than anything happening on the battlefield.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)