Israel’s secular Meretz Party said it is waiting to see the final coalition agreement that may be reached between Israeli Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak and the fervently Orthodox Shas Party. Meretz cannot give a final answer regarding its participation in Barak’s government “until we have the whole picture,” Meretz leader Yossi Sarid said Tuesday. Meanwhile, the fervently Orthodox United Torah Judaism bloc signed an agreement with Barak that calls for the creation of a committee to deal with draft exemptions for yeshiva students.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.