Immigration and Absorption Minister Ofir Sofer attacked the proposed draft law during a closed-door house meeting, warning that it could lead to the collapse of the right-wing bloc in the elections. The remarks were reported Sunday morning on the “This Morning" program on Kan Reshet Bet News radio.
In recordings obtained by Kan News, Sofer is heard saying, “If the law is advanced, despite the anger of the serving reservists, the right will collapse. It will pay an electoral price for this. Certainly in gross terms and even if you look at more specific frameworks."
Sofer also addressed the haredi leadership and the lack of a clear statement from haredi rabbis that those who do not study Torah should enlist. “Why can’t 25 important rabbis, maybe five, maybe ten prominent ones, publish a letter saying that we call on everyone who is studying Torah to continue studying, that no one should leave the yeshiva, but whoever is not studying Torah - should enlist. It’s impossible to hear such a thing," the minister said.
Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman, speaking on the same program on Kan Reshet Bet News, said: “From my perspective there is no compromise - there is no contradiction between Torah study and military service. All the great leaders of Israel served in the army. There is no contradiction between Torah study and service in the army - religious Zionism has proven that there is no contradiction. There will be no chief rabbis calling to throw draft orders into the toilet, only rabbis who have served."