Bennett pledges not to cooperate with the Haredim: "The door is closed to those who support draft evasion"
Talks within United Torah Judaism about joining any government that would legislate an exemption from military service for Haredim do not impress the chairman of the "BEYAHAD" party. "There is no point in a government that will not solve this existential problem," said Bennett. Regarding the Eisenkot outline: "Gafni and Deri will spin the politician on duty."
After United Torah Judaism, and especially the Hasidic stream of Agudat Yisrael, signaled openness regarding coalition negotiations and entering any government in exchange for a law that would regulate an exemption from service in the IDF for yeshiva students, the chairman of the "BEYAHAD" party, Naftali Bennett, declared that the door is closed as far as he is concerned for those who support draft evasion.
In an interview with "Kikar HaShabbat", Bennett clarified unequivocally that he will not allow the entry of Haredi parties into a government under his leadership as long as they support the law for exemption from IDF service.
"The door is locked to those who are in favor of evasion," said the former prime minister.
He explained: "The most difficult problem threatening the future of the Jewish state in the Land of Israel is the fact that already 15% of the public is inside a separate and disconnected Haredi state. There is no point in a government that will not solve this existential problem - if we do not deal with this now, it will never happen."
Bennett also criticized the recruitment outline proposed by the chairman of "Yashar", Gadi Eisenkot, according to which 3% of every recruitment cycle would receive an exemption from military service to study Torah. According to Bennett, "There will be no exceptions on this matter. 3% is 30% of a Haredi cycle, there are no outlines now and no allocations now."
Bennett added: "Gadi spoke about 30%. There are 12,000 Haredim in a cycle, so basically I understand that he is talking about 30% of the Haredim in every cycle who will have an exemption - I think this is a crazy mistake. I will tell you why: because Gafni and Deri will simply spin the politician on duty again, and it will end in nothing. The proof is four years of Haredi rule."
Representatives of United Torah Judaism have repeatedly said in recent weeks that they are not committed to the bloc headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. For example, MK Yaakov Asher said: "There is no talk of a bloc, we are in the bloc of the world of Torah and we will go with whoever gives us our demands on this matter."
