MK (Yesh Atid) Elazar Stern once again strikes out, for the umpteenth time, directing his rage at rabbonim of the religious Zionism camp.

On the backdrop of the controversy surrounding women combatants, Stern was interviewed Monday on Radio 101.5FM and said of the rabbis opposed to enlisting girls: “Those who bark will continued to bark, and the convoy will continue. Religious girls will mobilize and enlist in the army in increasing numbers.”

Stern added: “I think that the girls who enlist in the IDF among the graduates of religious Zionism, the institutions of the religious public schools, are higher than those who do not enlist.”

Regarding the opinions of HaRav Shlomo Aviner and HaRav Shmuel Eliyahu, Stern adds, “The army does not have to build podiums for anyone who acts against it, and I do not understand the difference between “Breaking the Silence” and a rabbi who calls for not enlisting for all sorts of other reasons.”

This is not the first time that Stern has spoken out against Rabbi Eliyahu.

More than three years ago, during an interview on Radio Galei Israel, Stern chastised Rabbi Eliyahu by referring to him as “Shmulik Eliyahu” and said that he was “a student of Gemara.” This caused a storm and Knesset members and rabbis were quick to condemn the matter.

After several days with the mediation of Rabbi Yitzchak David Grossman, Stern apologized and Rabbi Eliyahu forgave him wholeheartedly. It now seems that Stern has returned to his tongue of rejection of rabbonim.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)