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Shas MK Yoav Ben Tzur says his party remains firmly aligned with Israel’s right-wing bloc and sees little chance of joining a left-wing government after the upcoming elections, while declaring that passage of a law protecting the status of yeshiva bochurim will be Shas’ first condition before entering a new coalition.

Speaking Thursday evening in an interview with Avi Blum on Kol Chai’s Central Edition, Ben Tzur addressed speculation that Shas could return to its historic approach of considering partnerships with parties across the political spectrum, particularly if a different coalition offered an acceptable solution to the ongoing draft crisis affecting bnei yeshivos.

“Shas is a party that is mostly a right-wing party,” Ben Tzur said. “We are with the public and the people in the field, and the people in the field who are with us believe in the values of the right. It does not seem to me that today, in the current reality and constellation, there is any kind of chance that we would go with a left-wing government.”

Asked whether Shas would follow Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu into the opposition if the right-wing bloc fails to secure the 61 Knesset seats needed to form a government, Ben Tzur declined to make such a commitment.

He characterized that possibility as a “hypothetical situation,” saying Shas expects the election results ultimately to produce enough seats for Netanyahu and the right-wing bloc to establish the next government.

Ben Tzur also focused heavily on the draft law, which has emerged as one of the most consequential issues facing the chareidi parties ahead of the elections.

According to Ben Tzur, he understands there to be an agreement between Shas and Degel HaTorah that following the election, the two parties will work together to advance legislation establishing the status of those learning Torah. He acknowledged that the eventual legislation may fall short of what the chareidi parties originally sought but said it must nevertheless provide a workable solution to the current situation.

“I think there is an agreement between the two chareidi factions, Degel HaTorah and Shas, to definitely lead a move that will ultimately provide a solution,” Ben Tzur said. “Not the best solution that we wanted, but still a solution in order to restore fairness and reasonableness to the reality in which we find ourselves.”

Ben Tzur made clear that Shas intends to demand passage of the draft legislation before allowing the next coalition to proceed with the rest of its agenda.

“This will be the first condition. As Rabbi Aryeh Deri said – before a government is established and there is a coalition, first they will pass the draft law, and afterward the rest of the things.”

Ben Tzur also addressed recent comments by Sephardic Chief Rabbi Rav Yitzchok Yosef regarding IDF soldiers and bnei yeshivos, saying the remarks reflected the same approach championed by his father, Rav Ovadia Yosef zt”l.

“On the one hand, it is possible to support the yeshiva bochurim, who are our Sayeret Matkal, and on the other hand, we have tremendous appreciation and great love for the IDF soldiers who risk their lives to protect the Jewish people.”

{Matzav.com}

Bill de Blasio is throwing his support behind the growing socialist wing of the Democratic Party, arguing that its leading figures are succeeding because they are offering an agenda that many Americans increasingly want.

“There are specific leaders who have emerged out of DSA who are providing a vision that actually a lot of people in this country are hungry for,” de Blasio said Tuesday on “The Ingraham Angle.”

The New York City mayor pointed to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani as examples of politicians who, in his view, have capitalized on public dissatisfaction with the political establishment by emphasizing issues such as the cost of living.

“It is about the leaders that are emerging, like Bernie Sanders, AOC, Mamdani, some of the folks who won primaries lately,” he said.

“They are pointing in a specific direction, and there’s a reason they’re winning.”

Although de Blasio has said that he does not consider himself a socialist and does not belong to the Democratic Socialists of America, he voiced agreement with significant portions of the movement’s economic and social platform during his interview with host Laura Ingraham.

Among the policies de Blasio endorsed were ending the war with Iran, establishing Medicare for All and increasing taxes on the wealthiest Americans. He argued that such proposals resonate because voters are deeply concerned about the affordability of everyday life.

“These progressive candidates are winning because they’re talking about how to raise wages, how to lower health care costs, how to get out of the war in Iran that is shooting up gasoline prices,” he said, while also making clear that he does not agree with the socialist movement on every issue.

De Blasio went beyond economic policy in outlining areas where he favors major changes, calling for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be eliminated and replaced by a newly created federal agency.

“We need a secure border, but we should abolish ICE because it’s a broken agency and start over with a different kind of agency that can secure our border without creating so much violence in our cities,” he said.

De Blasio also said illegal immigrants who have not been convicted of violent or other serious crimes should be offered a “path to legalization.”

{Matzav.com}