Liberman says debate over legal shakeup is ‘life or death fight’ between Zionism and Haredim

Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman charges that the coalition’s ongoing judicial reform bid is part of a century-long debate between Zionism and ultra-Orthodox Judaism.

A vocal critic of the Haredi leadership’s grip on Jewish life and state funding while the community largely eschews military service and is underrepresented in the workforce, Liberman says that the ongoing judicial reform fight is part of a larger battle over sharing the burden.

“The fight that has continued about 100 years between the Zionist movement and Haredi” Jewry is one of the key parts of the judicial overhaul plan, Liberman says alongside fellow opposition party leaders in side-by-side statements at the Knesset.

The Yisrael Beytenu leader points to the expected override clause, which coupled with the coalition’s stated intention to pass a new Basic Law: Torah Study will enshrine military exemptions for full-time yeshiva study — an issue over which Liberman previously brought down a government.

Liberman says enabling the coalition and its Haredi partners to run roughshod over military conscription “is a hard blow to equality in sharing the [security] burden,” and “this country is not able to carry it.”

“If we can’t solve this issue, we can’t survive – so this is a life or death fight,” he adds.