More than any elected official before him, it appears Finance Minister Yair Lapid favorite forum for reaching his constituents is Facebook. This however does not appears to find favor in the eyes of all of his colleagues, including Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon.

Ya’alon took a poke at Lapid, telling him “one cannot run the nation by Facebook” in regard to Lapid’s frequent remarks on the social media network pertaining to the chareidi draft. Ya’alon has been a harsh critic of Lapid’s desire to impose criminal sanctions on bnei yeshivos who fail to comply with the new law. Ya’alon and others feel that if a new law seeks to compel new realities it will simply result in the chareidi tzibur at large rejecting any and all efforts to cooperate, including cooperation in the past such as the IDF’s Nachal Chareidi and IAF Shachar program.

Speaking to a Likud forum in the Sharon region, Ya’alon was recorded making his remarks, which made their way to Channel 2 News. Ya’alon added that last year 1,500 chareidim were brought into the IDF without waging a war against that community and he feels this is the only approach that will work. Ya’alon has stated in the past that he does not plan to arrest avreichim and nor does his plan to open a beis medrash in the prison system. He remains opposed to criminal sanctions in response to those failing to adhere to the new law.

While he voted for the criminal sanctions in the recent Peri Share the Burden Committee vote, Ya’alon is well aware the bill must now pass in the ministerial committee, the cabinet and three Knesset readings so there is ample time to amend that clause.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)