Liberman: ‘If we don’t separate religion and state, we won’t have a state’

MK Avigdor Liberman, head of the right-wing secularist Yisrael Beytenu party, expresses concern that religion is gaining too much sway in Israel during the joint press conference with other opposition chiefs.

“If we do not separate religion and state, we will not have a state,” says the longtime critic of the ultra-Orthodox’s influence on the state.

“Today it is clear that the main engine for all this crazy legislation, the most rigid, the most extreme element that is not ready for any compromise are the Shas and United Torah Judaism parties,” Liberman adds, singling out the Knesset’s two ultra-Orthodox factions.

“Their belligerent conduct in the Knesset leads to damage to the State of Israel, the IDF, and Judaism.”

UTJ in particular has put pressure on the coalition to pass a mechanism to override Supreme Court rulings, as part of a years-long battle to anchor in law blanket military exemptions for Torah study.