MK Meir Porush of the hareidi-religious Yahadut Hatorah (Gimmel) party issued a stark warning Sunday against coercing hareidi-religious men to enlist in the IDF. “If half a million people feel that they are going back to the time of the Inquisition, they will be willing to give their lives,” he said.

Porush spoke at a celebration Saturday night in Beitar Illit to mark the Yahadut Hatorah party’s growth from five Knesset seats to seven.