Netanyahu claims he wants ‘broad national government,’ falsely says Haredi draft evaders being arrested at yeshivas

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he intends to form a “broad national government” and to reach an agreement on Haredi military service, as his coalition teeters over ultra-Orthodox demands for legislation preserving draft exemptions for yeshiva students.

Asked at his press conference whether he intends to advance legislation exempting Haredim from the military draft to satisfy his ultra-Orthodox allies — and potentially buy more time before the Knesset is dissolved — Netanyahu insists that he is seeking to form a coalition that reaches “broad agreements” on contentious issues, including the Haredi draft, despite polls showing he has no clear path to forming a right-wing coalition that would give him a Knesset majority and allow him to remain in power.

“There are forces among us that want to bring about a rupture within our society, that want to exacerbate and deepen misunderstandings, disagreements and divisions among us. And I think that is a terrible mistake,” he asserts.

“I intend to establish a broad national government. Not a narrow government, not a left-wing government that would be dependent on Arab parties, but a broad national government. Because only in that way, I believe, can we reach agreements among ourselves,” he continues, without mentioning the “narrow” coalition of solely right-religious he currently leads.

“I don’t boycott anyone. I say that everyone can join — they simply have to agree to our basic principles: that Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people; that we respect individual rights; that we have a free and technologically advanced economy; that we have the ability to defend ourselves,” the premier says.

Netanyahu adds that he seeks an “agreement on the issue of [Haredi] military service,” saying he thinks “this is possible, and I intend to do it.”

He says it would be counterproductive to send police into “Haredi hesder” yeshivas to arrest students for not drafting, as this would simply prevent Haredi men from ever wanting to serve: “We have seen an enormous response from the Haredi public. Young Haredi men want to enlist. But when arrests are carried out in places of Torah study, it produces the opposite result,” he claims, though there have been no such reported arrest operations.

“If I told you that in some country in Europe, police were entering yeshivas, taking young men studying Torah, and putting them in prison, you would be shocked,” he says.

While certain exemptions should be made for those studying Torah, he says, “anyone who is not studying Torah can be subject to the full force of the law, including arrest. That is clear.”

“This will be my policy – to establish a broad national government and to try to reach broad understandings on all these issues, because we still have much work to do,” he says.