The Shas party may be on the verge of returning to the government just months after its dramatic resignation, according to a report from Kan, Israel’s public broadcaster.

Boaz Bismuth, chairman of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, announced this week that he had submitted a document outlining the principles of a new Chareidi draft exemption bill to the committee’s legal adviser — a move widely seen as paving the way for Shas’s return.

Shas, which represents large segments of the Sephardic chareidi community, quit the coalition in July after the government failed to pass legislation securing long-term draft exemptions for yeshiva bochurim. The party’s departure left Prime Minister Netanyahu’s coalition without a stable majority and triggered the temporary reassignment of its key ministerial posts — including Health, Interior, Labor, Welfare, and Religious Services — to Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Tourism Minister Chaim Katz.

According to Kan, Shas leaders are eager to rejoin the government as soon as possible, before October 20, when the temporary appointments would otherwise become permanent.

Political observers say Netanyahu has been working behind the scenes to bring the party back into the fold, viewing Shas’s return as essential to stabilizing his fragile coalition and advancing legislation central to the chareidim.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)