UTJ head Goldknopf denounced over video of him dancing to draft dodger song

Politicians across the political spectrum denounce Housing Minister Yitzchak Goldknopf after a video emerges of the head of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party dancing to an anti-Zionist, anti-enlistment anthem at a wedding, though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is quick to praise the ally for “disavowing” the ditty.

In a widely distributed clip, Goldknopf can be seen in the middle of a circle of young Haredi men singing that they “don’t believe in the government of infidels” and “won’t show up at their [army] recruitment offices.” The lyrics also include: “We will die and not enlist.”

“This is not the Deep State — it is subversion from within the government that is harming the State of Israel,” says National Unity chairman Benny Gantz, arguing that the only appropriate response to Goldknopf’s actions is “a letter of dismissal and enlistment orders.”

“Any other message is a spit in the faces of IDF soldiers. Only a Zionist consensus government will save Israel’s security,” he tweets.

“Our soldiers are guarding the borders and Minister Goldknopf dances to the evasive anthem,” tweets Yisrael Beytenu MK Oded Forer. “A real prime minister would have fired him this evening. But we only have the fake version of a prime minister. The State of Israel must enact a simple law — if you don’t enlist, then you don’t vote either.”

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid notes the heavy price paid by soldiers on October 7, 2023 and since. “A minister who jumps up [to dance] against the state of Israel should have been fired this evening,” he declares.

But Netanyahu is not doing so because “he is the prime minister of evasion and refusal,” Lapid asserts.

בשלטון הכופרים אין אנו מאמינים. השר יצחק גולדקנופף בריקוד סוער כעת עם בחורי ישיבות שזועקים: 'ובלשכותיהם אין אנו מתייצבים' pic.twitter.com/9ExW6yvkny

— משה ויסברג (@moshe_nayes) March 23, 2025

Some of Goldknopf’s coalition partners also lash out at the Haredi leader.

“A shame and a disgrace,” tweets Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. “We can no longer remain silent in the face of Minister Goldknopf’s indifference, disdain, and ungratefulness toward the State of Israel and the heroic IDF fighters. I demand that the Prime Minister summon him for clarification this evening, set a red line for him, and put an end to his disgraceful conduct.”

MK Ohad Tal of Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party accuses Goldknopf of having “gone completely off the rails” and insists that Netanyahu “should show him the door so that anyone who does not believe in the ‘rule of the infidels’ will not dare to be a minister.”

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett dismisses the condemnations by members of the coalition, posting on X that their statements are “worthless” as long as the government transfers “billions [of shekels] in a budget that encourages evasion, thereby placing the entire burden on our reservists.”

“We don’t need your condemnations, but simple action by the government: A complete cessation of evasion budgets.”

Responding to the condemnations, Goldknopf accuses his critics of attempting to sow division and stoke conflict, arguing that while he did not feel comfortable with the song, he did not leave “in order not to offend the groom and his family.”

“Unfortunately, some people have taken advantage of this for incitement, as if I agree with the content of the song. So here it is: I disavow and condemn it,” he writes.

Responding to Goldknopf’s statement, Netanyahu says that the minister “did well to disavow the song that was played at the event he attended and even expressed regret about it.”

“There is no place for songs against serving in the IDF. It is time to unite the forces within against the enemies without,” he tweets.

Goldknopf later issues a stronger renunciation of his actions, acknowledging the footage offended many and saying that “at the height of the dance and the music I didn’t set boundaries, and precisely as someone who helps reservists, fears for the wellbeing of soldiers and prays for their success — I ask for forgiveness.”

“I was obligated to shut down the band immediately and this is what I’ll do going forward,” he adds. “I very much understand those pained [by the images] and apologize.”