MK Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism) addressed the Federation of Local Authorities in Israel Thursday morning and discussed his party's position on the Draft Law.
"It cannot be that there will not be Torah students who are soldiers in a Jewish country. There is no such reality," Gafni said.
"When there were bloody wars during the days of King David, the prophet came to King David and said to him - half of the people study Torah and half of the people serve in the army, and they share the burden. I propose this today as well: that half of the people study Torah and half serve in the army, and they take turns. I say - the students of Ponevezh Yeshiva - they will go to the army to fight, but bring the high school kids at that time will study Torah. That's what we agreed to."
When asked why a person can't serve in the navy and go to university, Gafni replied: "He can't. Our people who went through holocausts, disasters, the Inquisition and the Crusades finally returned to their country because of this reality - that it always had Torah students. I want there to be a status quo, I didn't go into details about the Draft Law."
Journalist Yaron Avraham told Gafni that this was an absurd comparison: "You and I are in the same country and if you can both study Torah and go to the army, that's great, so why do you need an exemption?".
MK Gafni answered him that "With all due respect, a man cannot serve in both the Air Force and the Navy at the same time. There are things he has to do. He can do what he does in terms of serving the country, in terms of serving the people."
Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman responded: "Gafni, thank you for this important clarification. Let me make something clear to you - nobody intends to be a sucker here."