Opposition leader Yair Lapid declared Monday at the start of Yesh Atid’s faction meeting: “In the next government, there will be a simple law - if you don’t report to the IDF induction center, you won’t report to the ballot box. If you don’t enlist, you won’t vote.”
Lapid sharply criticized the coalition's proposed Draft Law, stating: “[Prime Minister] Netanyahu and [Shas chairman Aryeh] Deri aren’t even pretending they want to draft haredim. Their proposal is full of lies and deceit. This government, from day one, has said: no to drafting haredim, yes to collecting money.”
Commenting on the bill being promoted by MK Boaz Bismuth, Lapid added: “It’s a disgraceful first draft of a draft-dodging law, engineered entirely to ensure that no haredi will enlist in the IDF, be injured, die in battle, or be part of the Israeli story.”
He noted that Yesh Atid previously supported a bill stating that those who do not enlist should be denied the right to vote. “We’ll bring it back without blinking and say to the haredim: this isn’t against you, it’s not a punishment. On the contrary, it’s an invitation - to be part of the Israeli story, the shared destiny, a country where everyone has the same obligations. Otherwise, they won’t have the same rights.”
Meanwhile, Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman responded to the planned "million-man rally" organized by haredi factions in protest of the draft and in light of recent arrests of draft evaders.
“The establishment’s leaders are organizing a million-man rally of draft dodgers. They used to say those who don’t study Torah will enlist in the IDF, but today all masks are off. Even those who don’t study - won’t enlist. There’s incitement and attacks coming from them. That’s a criminal offense,” Liberman said.
“Anyone inciting against IDF enlistment during wartime faces up to 15 years in prison. What do we have in common with someone who says, ‘We’ll die before we enlist’? That’s a fifth column working against Israel’s security.”