UTJ MK Meir Porush harshly criticzed Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, warning that continued legal action against the G community could lead to a major confrontation and claiming that the public may adopt methods used by anti-government protest movements.
MK Meir Porush, chairman of the Shlomei Emunim movement, made the remarks Tuesday night during a meeting of local representatives from the movement held in Beitar Illit. The gathering focused on preparations for the haredi struggle against military draft enforcement and recent arrests of yeshiva students.
During his speech, Porush referred to comments attributed to former Prime Minister Ehud Barak regarding the possibility of removing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from power if he attempts to undermine elections.
"I saw this week that Ehud Barak says that if Netanyahu tries to sabotage the elections, there will be no choice but to expel him with sticks and stones," Porush said.
Porush then drew a comparison between rhetoric used by anti-government protesters and possible actions by the haredi public, saying: "It is customary to say that what is permitted to them is forbidden to us, but not anymore. The moment a war was declared against the world of Torah - everything that is permitted to them is permitted to us, and if necessary even more than that."
He continued by directly referring to the attorney general, saying: "If the Attorney General does not stop persecuting Torah scholars, there will be no choice but to use Ehud Barak's words and expel her with sticks and stones."
The comments came as haredi leadership continues to oppose government efforts to draft yeshiva students into the IDF. Porush praised a decision by haredi authorities to temporarily suspend cooperation with police authorities, suggesting further steps could follow.
"There may soon come a day when I will call you with the decision that you must completely disconnect from cooperation with other government authorities that take part in the persecution against us," he told local representatives. "We must be ready to lead protest measures that will shake the rafters."
Porush also suggested that the haredi community could use its economic influence as part of the struggle, comparing the idea to tactics employed during protests against the judicial reform.
"The haredi public currently numbers nearly one and a half million people - 14.3 percent of the total population," he said. "I strongly do not recommend that our persecutors in the Justice Ministry and the Finance Ministry check what the economic price is of a large public that decides that it has had enough. We are afraid of Arab terror, but no less so of the protesters led by Ehud Barak and the like, who want to dismantle the world of Torah. The Arabs want to kill our bodies, and the jurists want to kill our soul."