That’s it. Netuerei karta needed new blood, so they recruited Beinish to prove their point that zionism and Torah are incompatible (a view historically shared by most secular zionists, ironically).

If you want to know more about Prof Halbertal’s personal views, see his widely-discussed HAARETZ article, “Israel must separate religion from politics.”

Here is an excerpt:

I don’t believe anyone has to pay for my beliefs. It’s not ethical that the secular public finances yeshiva students and the high birth rate among the ultra-Orthodox. There is nothing more infuriating to secular Israelis than to be spit in the face after they’ve given the ultra-Orthodox a generous sum of money. The ultra-Orthodox oppose the values of a secular society – Zionism, creativity, army conscription, sexual equality and more. However, they have no qualms about demanding and receiving money from this society, thereby intensifying public animosity toward them.

Let’s be honest with ourselves. There is no reason the secular public should finance those who show contempt for its values. The solution I propose will benefit religion more than the state. I don’t want to be part of a society that uses coercion. I don’t want to be part of a society in which there is incitement to racism, and I don’t want to be part of an ungrateful religious society.

Your comment is both irresponsible and reflects a fundamental lack of any understanding of halacha. There is nothing in the torah that remotely suggests it is “assur to defend the medinah and stand by helplessly and watch the arab armies move across the border to slaughter us. Your comments are an insult to the memory of the kadoshim killed in the shoah who weren’t able to fight back. We can and we will and those of you who will go run and hide under your shtenders in the beis medrash when the war comes, don’t deserve to live in eretz yisroel, now or ever in the future.

There are plenty of religious Jews in the IDF, and they suffer harrassment and discrimination from their anti-religious secular officers every day, trying to force them to compromise their religious standards.

Promotions are denied, simply because an officer is religious, and the secular commanders do not want religious officers to attain high rank in the IDF, which could be a stepping-stone to entry into politics.

In fact, it is widely acknowledged that the religious troops are the best and the most dedicated, because of their idealism.

The reason the politicians want to push the Hareidim into the IDF has more to do with forced assimilation into the secular culture than national security.