Former Shas minister Shlomo Benizri sharply criticized the National Religious public during an appearance on a podcast hosted by Avi Shoshan.
“We are not like Religious Zionism," Benizri said. “Their children are not of spiritual concern to them. Forty to fifty percent fall spiritually during army service - their rabbis know this and remain silent."
Shoshan challenged the remarks in light of the Octber 7thmassacre and the ongoing war, noting the many fallen soldiers who combined Torah study with military service. Benizri responded by praising their contribution, saying, “I give them full credit for fighting, for settling the Land of Israel, and for studying Torah."
Shoshan then mentioned Saadia Yaakov Deri, Leli Deri’s son, who was filmed studying Gemara during the war. Benizri replied sharply: “Do you think Torah is learned like that, on the side? I praise and honor him. Blessed is he and blessed is his portion; may he rest in Eden. But his mother is turning this into wild incitement against the haredi public. It’s true she is a bereaved mother, and we all feel her pain and mourn with her, but she cannot take her son’s story and use it against all the sages of Israel. She will not moralize to us. If she wants to recruit people from her community - no problem. But she should not preach to us."
Shoshan responded that it is the haredi public that often moralizes and presents itself as superior to the rest of Israeli society, labeling others as inferior.
Benizri did not reject the claim. “Maybe it’s arrogance, maybe conceit," he said. “I truly hear Religious Zionists saying, ‘Your Torah is not our Torah,’ and on that point I agree with them. Those who do not study Torah should enlist, but we must establish a framework that is one hundred percent free of spiritual risk. We will not lose our soul, as happens in Religious Zionism."