With the extension of regular and reserve mandatory army service and the online outrage over the exemption given Charedi yeshivah students, Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich called on Charedim to enlist in the fight.
In a statement he released today (Thursday), he wrote: “The Charedi public is dear and beloved and contributes much to the State of Israel and now it is vital that it take a more significant part in missions of defense and security.”
According to Smotrich, “This move needs to happen based on discussion and dialogue and not by force or God forbid through smearing. Religious Zionism proves that it’s possible to combine Torah study and Miztvah observance and adhering to even the lightest Miztvah along with military service on the front. Charedi brothers, we need you!”
Earlier Minister Amichai Chikli joined the calls on the Charedi public to help shoulder the burden and enlist. To that end, he quoted a verse from the Book of Nechemiah: “They that built the wall and they that bore burdens laded themselves, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other held his weapon.” “My Charedi brothers, we need you carrying the stretcher. What was cannot continue. It is a time of trouble for Yaakov and we will be saved from it with unity of purpose and a true partnership in the burden.”
Noam party leader Avi Maoz, meantime, said that “the campaign to draft Charedim is just a cover for the ongoing incitement against the Charedi public. Only a real process which comes from within the Charedi public, and with the agreement of the Gedolim and the rashei yeshivah will lead to a real change.”