"We never fought against enlistment to the IDF": Senior Shas official responds to criticism
Against the backdrop of the enlistment law storm and the decline in polls, MK Uriel Buso clarifies who will not receive backing from Shas, defends Aryeh Deri, and claims that "left-wing elements paying a lot of money" are behind the jeers.
The storm surrounding the enlistment law and the decline in polls continue to occupy the political system. Member of Knesset Uriel Buso (Shas), former Minister of Health, addressed in an interview with Gideon Oko on 'Seven-Nine' the tension surrounding the status of yeshiva students, attacked the treatment of his party chairman, and pointed an accusing finger at left-wing elements funding protests against the party.
MK Buso pushed back against the criticism of Aryeh Deri's remarks, in which he expressed pride in his grandchildren who did not enlist:
"He is proud of his grandchildren who are draft dodgers, because they are truly studying Torah. You do not want a situation in a Jewish state where a guy sits at the Shabbat table who serves in the army, and his brother across from him is considered a criminal because he studies Torah. It cannot be that the grandson of Aryeh Deri is considered a criminal and the grandson of Mansour Abbas is not, because the state did not call him to serve. In a Jewish state, Mansour Abbas receives more legitimacy than Aryeh Deri."
Oko wondered how the combination of army and Torah study as presented in the new campaign launched by the party aligns with their opposition to enlistment. The MK rejected the claims:
"It will not help how much you repeat this lie, we never fought against enlistment to the IDF. The only thing we are fighting for is the regulation of the status of Torah students. Whoever does not study is not under our jurisdiction, he does not receive backing from us. He sells falafel or works as a waiter in a hall. There is military police, let them take him. We are not anyone's military police."
"Shas will maintain its strength"
Regarding Shas's decline in the polls, Buso expressed full confidence in the party's power. "We know that the polls are not exactly what the field says. We, unlike everyone else, know our voters and know exactly what the field is talking about. Shas will grow through its natural growth and will maintain its strength. Those army servicemen who have a brother studying Torah are angry that the state has turned their relatives into criminals, and we want to regulate this."
When asked about the jeers directed at Deri at various conferences, Buso claimed external involvement: "Whoever is behind these jeers is left-wing elements who have been paying a lot of money for years to extremist elements to enter our home."
