United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni claimed on Sunday evening that the real goal of those protesting in favor of drafting haredim is not to bring them into the IDF, but rather to topple the government.
In an interview with Kan Reshet Bet radio, Gafni said, “They don’t actually want to take those who study Torah into the army - they just protest about everything."
He continued, “The Draft Law is a kind of mantra, a tool that can be used to bring down the government." Gafni added that the protests began even before the war and that protesters choose issues that sometimes succeed and sometimes do not. “What doesn’t succeed drops off the agenda, and what does succeed stays on the agenda," he said, expressing doubt that even if all yeshiva students enlisted and met the protesters’ demands, the demonstrations would stop.
Gafni refrained from taking a clear position on the details of the draft law, IDF enlistment quotas, and the definition of Torato Omanuto (“Torah as one’s profession").
However, he noted, “At the time, the leading Torah sages said that anyone who is not studying Torah must not receive the Torato Omanuto exemption. When the vote on the law comes, I - like my colleagues - will ask the Torah sages, and if they instruct me to vote in favor, I will vote in favor."
Regarding the possibility of returning to the government, Gafni - who previously served as chairman of the Knesset Finance Committee - said it depends on whether he personally feels he can be part of the coalition. “If there comes a point where I feel I can be part of this coalition, I’ll return. If not, I won’t return."
He emphasized that he intentionally avoids referencing the draft issue so as “not to play into the hands of those who put it on the agenda in order to bring down the government."
Gafni added that the coalition’s future depends on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s actions. “If Netanyahu truly addresses the existing problems and acts with full force, I assume the government will complete its term. If he doesn’t go into it with full force - and he knows how to work when he wants to - then it won’t complete its term."