Opposition leader Yair Lapid clarified on Sunday evening that his party’s proposed law to revoke voting rights from those who evade military service would apply only to Chareidim while excluding the Arab sector.

Speaking on Kan News, Lapid said, “I don’t know who invented this phrase that voting rights are a sacred right—they are not a sacred right. In a democratic country there are rights and obligations, and one depends on the other; you cannot separate them.”

The Shas party issued a sharp response: “Yair Lapid, who rushed to clarify that he did not intend to strip voting rights from Arabs—only from Chareidim—has exposed his true colors and his deep hatred for Jews who are Shomrei Torah u’mitzvos.”

“According to Lapid, Jews who love the land, learn Torah, and daven daily for the safety of IDF soldiers are worth less than Arabs, some of whom openly support Palestinian terror. This is disgraceful.”

Agudas Yisrael MK Meri Porush responded by stating, “Diaspora Affairs and Antisemitism Minister Shikli—you don’t need to search abroad for fights against antisemites. Yair Lapid is right here in the Israeli parliament, voicing ideas that even antisemites overseas wouldn’t dare say out loud today.”

“Will the next law from Lapid and Lieberman be a ban on Chareidim traveling on Israeli roads because the asphalt was paid for with state funds?”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)