MKs heed call of bereaved family to only pay respects after they reach across aisle

Several lawmakers heeded the call of the family of Cpt. (res.) Rabbi Avraham Yosef Goldberg, who was killed on Saturday night while fighting in southern Lebanon, when they requested that politicians who come to pay their condolences do so only after reaching out across the aisle.

A statement from the Goldberg family on Monday said that it would welcome “politicians from any party or camp,” but only if they arrive in pairs — one from the coalition and one from the opposition. The family said this spirit matches what Goldberg tried to do during his lifetime: bridging gaps and building bonds.

Photos circulating on social media Tuesday showed a number of lawmakers visiting the family together in Jerusalem, including MK Michael Biton (National Unity), Negev, Galilee and National Resilience Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf (Otzma Yehudit), Interior Minister Moshe Arbel (Shas), Health Minister Uriel Buso (Shas), Minister within the Education Ministry Haim Biton (Shas), MK Meir Cohen (Yesh Atid), MK Ron Katz (Yesh Atid), MK Eli Dalal (Likud), and MK Simon Davidson (Yesh Atid).

Separately, National Unity MK Matan Kahana also visited with Shas MK Erez Malul.

Goldberg, a resident of Jerusalem and father of eight, was a teacher at the Himmelfarb High School, of which he himself was a graduate.

Meanwhile, Rachel Goldberg, the slain soldier’s widow, urged the ultra-Orthodox community to share the burden of military service.

Speaking to Channel 12 news Tuesday evening, Goldberg appealed to yeshiva students to join the military, saying that, “they need to understand that the people of Israel need them.”

מקיימים את צוואתו: אחדות כעת אצל משפחת גולדברג.
מיכאל ביטון (המחנה הממלכתי)
השר וסרלאוף (עוצמה יהודית)
השר משה ארבל (ש״ס)
השר בוסו (ש״ס)
השר ביטון (ש״ס)
מאיר כהן (יש עתיד)
רון כץ (יש עתיד)
אלי דלל (ליכוד)
סימון דוידסון (יש עתיד) pic.twitter.com/c2t2UyJkhE

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“Give us strength, what is this insensitivity of those that don’t get drafted,” she said.

Earlier, Goldberg reiterated the call when Jerusalem Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar visited her to pay his respects.

Goldberg said just as everyone in a household helps out with cleaning duties before Shabbat on Friday, so should all citizens be recruited into the military.

“It’s not like one sits at the table and prays that the home will be clean. Everyone needs to clean,” she said, adding that it was not Jewish or moral to give rewards to those who don’t participate.

Goldberg also called on non-religious people who evaded service to “take responsibility” and heed their draft notices.

Avraham Goldberg had spent 260 days in reserve duty since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught that started the ongoing war.

In statements eulogizing Goldberg Sunday, some noted that the educator, who served as a military rabbi, did not see a contradiction between his army service and his religious study, and some made pointed comments about the exemption from mandatory service received by many ultra-Orthodox men who study full-time.

He was killed in a battle in which 14 other soldiers were wounded fighting Hezbollah operatives, and also took the lives of Master Sgt. (res) Gilad Elmaliach, 30, from Jerusalem; Cpt. (res.) Amit Chayut, 29, from Haifa; Maj. (res.) Eliav Amram Abitbol, 36, from Eitan; and Sgt. Maj. (res.) Shaul Moyal, 47, from the Karnei Shomron area.

In June, the High Court of Justice ruled that there is no legal basis for the decades-long practice of exempting Haredi men from the military draft. A bill that in its current form broadly maintains the exemption is currently stuck in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, whose chairman, Likud MK Yuli Edelstein, has said that it will only pass if lawmakers can reach a “broad consensus” on the matter.