Leader of the "Yesh Atid" party and opposition leader, Yair Lapid, responds to the leader of the United Torah Judaism party, Moshe Gafni, who earlier today stated that Israel is in a religious war.
In a Facebook post, Yair Lapid wrote: "No, Rabbi Gafni, we are not in a religious war because we share the same religion. We are Jews. All of us. Jews who believe. And faith comes in all kinds of forms and ways."
"We don't need any guidance on how to be Jewish. The Torah is ours, Jewish history is ours, Kol Nidrei is ours, and any attempt to ignite a war among brothers is not atoned for on Yom Kippur."
"There is no religious war in Israel, and it is forbidden for one to occur because it is the greatest dream of the anti-Semites. There is a struggle here for the character of the State of Israel, its values, and its democracy. There is a government here that even you know is working against the most vital national interests of security, the economy, and society. Also you know that the use made by the extremists within it in the name of God is no less than desecration of the sacred.
"There is no religious war among us, Rabbi Gafni, because if there were, it would lead us to the same place where all previous religious wars have led us – to exile. We have a shared responsibility to prevent this, Rabbi Gafni, not to kindle the fire. We are Jews, all of us."