Gallant: Haredi conscription bill is ‘new low’ for Likud, and a ‘grave departure’ from Zionist path

Former defense minister Yoav Gallant lambasts the government over its support of a bill to regulate Haredi enlistment, saying the legislation is a “grave departure from Israel’s Zionist path.”

“No less grave is that the person who is spearheading it is from the main Zionist party, the Likud movement, which has reached a new low in this matter,” he tells Channel 12 in an interview.

According to Gallant, the bill unveiled by Likud MK Boaz Bismuth on Thursday would mean that in practice, one in every four Jewish males would not enlist. Taking Haredi demographic growth into account, the ratio would become one in three within just 15 years. “We can’t allow ourselves this from a security perspective,” says the ex-minister.

He claims that the gap between Likud politicians and voters has never been wider due to the right-wing party’s backing of the bill.

“Everyone who votes for Likud, the Likud activists, every one of them has a brother, son, daughter in the IDF. [If the bill passes,] they will do more mandatory service and more reserve service. This thing is inconceivable, especially at this moment,” he says.

He tells the interviewer that he fought tooth and nail over the issue of Haredi enlistment, which was the main reason for his sacking by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“I fought over this matter, and also paid with my position, because it is the most important thing,” he says. “That he [Netanyahu] put a narrow political consideration over the country, over the army, is very grave,” he says.

Speaking about this past week’s spat between Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF chief Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Gallant says that the quarrelling plays into the hands of Israel’s enemy. The two security officials traded barbs publicly, with Zamir accusing the minister of harming the IDF’s preparedness by freezing senior promotions.

“The unified message of the security establishment is a tool for our struggle against our enemies. Our enemies are looking at this split and it weakens us,” Gallant says.