MKs from the United Torah Judaism party reacted furiously to the Supreme Court decision to strike down the exemptions from IDF service given to yeshiva students.
The court ruled that the exemptions to haredi students discriminate against the communities which do not receive exemptions from IDF service.
Finance Committee Chairman MK Moshe Gafni said:"Throughout the history of the Jewish people, there have been many people both from within the nation and without who have attempted to prevent yeshiva students from continuing their studies. Some have tried to do so with force. Some have tried other ways, But they never succeeded in harming the study of Torah, and so too, will they not succeed now."
"The Torah scholars will continue their studies with or without the Supreme Court. I completely reject the court's ruling, and over the next year we will act to correct it, in the faces of the judges who have no idea of the importance of Torah scholars, or that our merit depends on the yeshiva students. That is how the world works: 'If My covenant be not with day and night, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth.' (Jeremiah 33:25), MK Gafni added.
Deputy Minister Meir Porush said that “The Supreme Court’s judicial activism completely empties Knesset legislation of importance, turning it into a dead letter. Today’s decision just drives another stake into the coffin. The Supreme Court is eager for the apocalypse. For seventy years, the state have not have equality for the haredi community as opposed to the general public. The haredim know that they are discriminated against, and that that is the price of independence."
The chairman of the Science and Technology Committee, MK Uri Maklev , argued that the court is eroding and undermining the foundations of the Jewish people by "harming the holy Torah which is the bedrock of our existence. This ruling proves again that the court is detached from the values of Israel and the Torah of Israel. Torah study is the the supreme value of all our rights and our existence. Our morals and our ethics are only because of the Torah of Israel."
"Unfortunately, the judges of the court find it difficult to understand and accept what has been accepted in Israel for many years. The petitioners do not seek the benefit of the Jewish people, which has been based on the learning of Torah since the creation of the world. The Jewish people have survived for thousands of years by virtue of their dedication to the Holy Torah, and we will do everything to preserve it," MK Maklev added.
MK Yisrael Eichler said that "the Supreme Court continues to wrap the rope around its oxygen sources and public legitimacy. The Supreme Court justices proved today that the only motive behind its rulings is the lust for dictatorial rule against the laws of the elected Knesset. The Supreme Court Justices will bear personal responsibility for the all-out war on Judaism. The Torah will not be harmed, and its victory is guaranteed to us forever."