Lapid and Yishai clash over ultra-Orthodox service
Interior minister says religious want to join IDF, but they are not wanted; Lapid calls his statement a joke
Fledgling politician Yair Lapid, who has made the imperative for ultra-Orthodox service a centerpiece of his nascent Yesh Atid party’s agenda, mocked Interior Minister Eli Yishai’s contention that the ultra-Orthodox want to enlist in the army, calling the Shas leader’s claim “not even a joke.”
Yishai said Tuesday on Army Radio that despite popular perception, the ultra-Orthodox population wants to join the army but the IDF doesn’t truly want them. Lapid retorted on his Facebook page, “His argument is not even a joke. Yishai is trying to divert attention from the truth.”
“Those who wouldn’t serve [in the army] should do national service,” Lapid added. “They could go to hospitals and nursing homes, do night patrols in difficult communities and care for Holocaust survivors. This isn’t against the Torah, this is Torah!”
The two have waged a media war on Facebook and in interviews over the past several weeks on the issue of ultra-Orthodox enlistment.
Yishai also said Monday that the Shas party will not participate in the Knesset committee to draft a replacement for the Tal Law, the recently overturned legislation which regulated ultra-Orthodox exemptions from army or national service.
A major plank in Lapid’s Yesh Atid party’s platform is mandatory service for all citizens. Devising a solution to the problem is also part of the platform for the new national unity coalition, and one of the conditions set by Kadima for joining the government.
Yishai said some weeks ago that Lapid doesn’t make blatant anti-religious statements but is more subtle in his attacks on ultra-Orthodoxy, comparing him to the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood, who “tries to hide his teeth and hate.”