Former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett is intensifying the country’s already fraught debate over military conscription, insisting that state funding should be cut off to Chareidi yeshivos whose talmidim do not serve in the military.
“We will not fund a single shekel to those who don’t enlist,” Bennett said in a radio interview Monday.
Speaking on Maariv’s 103FM, Bennett argued that the IDF is short roughly 20,000 troops, a gap he said is straining operations and increasing risk to soldiers. “Draft evasion is costing us the lives of our soldiers,” he said, describing reservists as repeatedly redeployed and “worn down,” with diminished effectiveness over time.
Bennett took direct aim at Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, accusing him of enabling continued exemptions through a proposed plan to incentivize Chareidi enlistment. He also criticized coalition figures including Yitzchak Goldknopf and Aryeh Deri, as well as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying political considerations have been prioritized over military readiness.
At the center of Bennett’s proposal is a sweeping funding overhaul. He called for halting “dozens of money channels” that support yeshivos, and for conditioning state support on participation in national service. He also criticized educational frameworks that omit core subjects, saying the current model is incompatible with state priorities.
“There are 100,000 young, healthy Chareidim who could enlist,” Bennett said, arguing that even partial participation would materially close the manpower gap.
The former premier is pairing the policy push with an explicit political strategy. He said he intends to form what he calls a “Zionist government,” claiming he can assemble a 61-seat majority without Netanyahu’s bloc. Asked whether he would join a Netanyahu-led coalition after elections, Bennett dismissed the idea as “absurd.”
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10 Responses
This rasha should drop dead.
Bennett is absurd & exceedingly evil wicked
שיכרתו אובינו ושונאינו וכל מבקשה רעתינו אמן
He’s not saying haredim should be arrested or that they have to stop learning, just that other citizens should not be forced to fund them.
Why is that unreasonable?
Because the same Wicked clown gave billions of shekels to Mansour Abbas and Arab causes while turning around and complaining that the piece of bread the Yeshiva Boys get is too much for the budget. Rav ovadia was right about this goy gamur
Shlomo2, check your yichus
100,000+ Kollel guys into their 50’s and 60’s not even Rebbes or Mahkcihim, hust relying on the state, american kollel support and their overworked wives? Shtissel showed how empty this is. This is true Bitul Torah. They can work an dbe koveah ittim like the world did till the kollel system created this. 10 batlanim is one thing, 100,000 whose blood is bluer than the brave soldiers? Lo saamod al daam reyecha!
mordy180: The DONKEY has spoken…
Another rasha mersha speaking against gedolei yisrael in public and announcing to everyone that he has no value for the learning of the Holy Torah. Unfortunately his end will be matching Bennett and the people who tried to starve our bnei torah
rebEmes, or can I call you Sheldon Stern, aka “The whole tooth”? You can join all the haters of Torah and chareidim. You are no better than them, as you disparage gedolim, olom haTorah, Chabad, Agudas Yisroel, Moetzes, BMG and others, while pretending to be part of the tzibur.