Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon on Tuesday, 5 Adar launched a strong attack against Yair Lapid, accusing him of causing the sharp reduction in the number of chareidim entering the IDF and for the increase in housing prices in Israel. Ya’alon was addressing a kenos of Mechina IDF preparatory yeshivot in N’vei.
He explained he has worked for years in cooperation with chareidi leaders towards increasing the number of inductees. He explained to date, everything that was accomplished was due to mutual respect and understanding but Lapid thought he can achieve more with threats and legal action against the chareidi tzibur.
Ya’alon explains that even back when he served as IDF Central District Commander and the Nachal Chareidi was formed, the numbers continued to increase annually due to the ongoing efforts of those who understood the change must be the result of mutual cooperation and not unilaterally trying to compel the tzibur. He questioned the need to threaten the chareidi tzibur and now it is evident the plan backfired.
Ya’alon then shifted to the sharp increase in housing, which he blames on Lapid’s failures as Minister of Finance and his failed Zero VAT bill.
He stated that Lapid’s irresponsible handling of matters has led to considerable damage in a number of areas.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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3 Responses
Lapid’s goal was not to get hareidim into the army. It was to destroy the hareidim community and to force hareidim in Eretz Yisrael to either become non-hareidim or to leave. For Lapid and his supporters, the hareidim are the leading threat to the existence of the medinah, or at least the sort of medinah that the secular zionists have always aspired to.
Lapid has probably failed. For Likud to form a government without including leftists it will need the hareidim, and will have to offer to cancel the conscription law and end the war on the hareidim. If Likud doesn’t or can’t make those concessions, then Labor will form a government with both hareidi and Arab support, and will also cancel conscription. Kulanu already came out against criminal sanctions for draft refusal, and Bayit Yehudi is unlikely to give up the settlements (to attract “left” support for a “right coalition) in order war against the hareidim. And almost all Arabs and most of the leftists are against criminal sanctions for refusing to do military service.
wasnt there a breport outt recently that more chareidim are joining nachal chareidi than ever before?
#1
youre partly right. for lapid it wasnt about having them in the army but rather to leave their torah learning…..
but yaalon is extremely right. it happened partly because it became a terrible stigma since then to join the army and number two; pple don’t want to be dictated by others and loose their bechira. Once it became a forceful thing it repelled pple.