Departing Shas MK Yaakov Margi Blasts Party Over Draft Law Failure, Says Lomdei Torah Were Abandoned

Veteran Shas MK Yaakov Margi has launched a blistering attack on his own party, accusing its leadership of surrendering to extremist elements within the chareidi community, sacrificing efforts to secure a military draft law protecting bnei Torah, and allowing inflammatory rhetoric to alienate the broader Israeli public.

Margi, who is leaving the Knesset after more than two decades of parliamentary service, delivered his unusually sharp criticism in an interview with Ari Kalman broadcast Tuesday evening on i24NEWS. His remarks come in the aftermath of Shas’s disappointing election performance and amid continuing tensions over the military draft and the status of yeshiva students.

The longtime Shas lawmaker argued that the party’s reluctance to confront extremist voices had directly undermined its ability to advance legislation regulating the military service exemptions of yeshiva students.

“Since the passing of Maran Rav Ovadia Yosef, I felt that I was missing someone to back me up,” Margi said.

He recalled being instructed by party officials to refrain from publicly discussing the draft legislation because his comments were provoking opposition from more extreme elements.

“At a certain point, they told me, ‘You want a draft law? Don’t speak out.’ In the party, they told me, ‘This makes it harder for us to advance it because it inflames the extremists.’ By surrendering to the extremists, we sacrificed the draft law.”

Margi’s criticism was particularly striking because it came from a senior figure who has spent much of his political career representing Shas and defending the interests of the Sephardic chareidi community.

He argued that the party’s approach had ultimately harmed the very yeshiva students it was supposed to protect, leaving their legal status unresolved while simultaneously deepening resentment among Israelis who serve in the military.

Margi also took direct aim at comments attributed to Shas chairman Aryeh Deri, which were previously publicized by i24NEWS.

In those remarks, Deri had reportedly warned against any weakening of the party’s position on military service, declaring that nobody should entertain even the slightest notion that perhaps they ought to contribute to the military effort.

“Chas v’shalom,” Deri reportedly said in reference to such thinking.

“What do you mean, ‘chas v’shalom’?” he asked. “And what about the young men wandering around doing nothing in Kikar HaChatulot? We abandoned the bnei Torah. They didn’t get a draft law. Their status isn’t regulated.”

The reference to Kikar HaChatulot, a gathering place in Yerushalayim, was part of Margi’s broader argument that the chareidi community must distinguish between serious yeshiva students devoted to learning and young men who are not engaged in Torah study.

Margi has repeatedly maintained that those who are not learning Torah should be required to serve in the military, a position that has placed him at odds with more hardline elements of the chareidi political establishment.

He also acknowledged the anger felt by the broader Israeli public, particularly families whose sons have served during the prolonged period of military conflict.

“On the other hand, the general public is angry, and rightly so,” Margi said. “You cannot remain calm and accept extreme or disconnected statements with equanimity when people are dealing with anxiety, post-trauma, parents who don’t sleep at night, and then you hear statements that are so disconnected.”

The outgoing lawmaker reserved some of his harshest criticism for the anti-draft demonstrations that have repeatedly disrupted roads and intersections across Israel.

Margi questioned whether the individuals participating in these protests genuinely represented the Torah community and challenged the justification for demonstrations that cause widespread disruption.

“Who were they demonstrating for?” he asked. “Percentage-wise, how many of them were bnei Torah? For them I should go out into the street? For them I should block roads? For them I should endanger the broader public? For them I should make a chillul Hashem?”