Former PM Bennett derides IDF Draft Law bill as ‘bluff,’ says Israel’s biblical heroes were all warriors

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett attacked the newly proposed IDF Draft Law, which he said would “eliminate any chance of conscripting Haredim” while citing Biblical warrior heroes like Joshua and King David to support his argument. 

In a video statement released just minutes after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was scheduled to give his own video statement, which was later cancelled citing “scheduling constraints,” Bennett said the ultra-Orthodox have to share the burden of military service. 

“On October 7, the vile Hamas terrorists launched a surprise attack during which they murdered, raped, and kidnapped over 1,400 Israelis. Their goal was not only to harm us physically, but also to break our spirit,” Bennett stated.

“All the state's systems collapsed, but in those hours the very people of Israel revealed themselves as a nation of lions.” 

Th former prime minister said that Israelis banded together during that difficult time, without regard for political and religious differences. 

“Israelis from all over the country rushed south into the inferno to save their brothers and sisters. Elhanan Clemenzon, Ben Shimoni, the brothers Noam and Shai Slutsky, they and many more, the heroes of Israel gave their lives for others,” Bennett continued. “In those hours, there were no religious versus secular, right-wing versus left-wing. There was one great, united people of Israel. Only when we are together are we able to overcome everything. That was how it was - and that will be.” 

Bennett noted that the two-year Gaza War exposed the lack of equality in bearing the enlistment burden, and has placed an unbearable burden on the reservists, many of whom have suffered severe financial and personal losses due to the extended days of reserve duty. 

“The IDF is currently short of about 20,000 soldiers to defend the borders of the State of Israel. There are only two options: to mobilize our Haredi brothers to lend a hand, or to impose on our reservists another 120 days of reserve duty per year on a permanent basis and destroy their professional and family futures,” Bennett stated. 

Additionally, he noted that the number of ultra-Orthodox men eligible to serve is more than enough to meet the military’s needs. 

“At the moment, there are about 100,000 young Haredi men who are subject to conscription, who could be trained within 5 months to the level required to fulfill the mission,” Bennett stated.

“It is possible and the IDF is capable of this, but it needs government support. However, the government - instead of working to mobilize the Haredi, is doing exactly the opposite. It is currently promoting a law that will eliminate any chance of conscripting the Haredim. The law that the government is promoting is not a conscription law, but an ‘Israbluff’.” 

Bennett described some of the "bluffs," saying, “The law is full of formulations and tricks designed to mislead you, the public, as if the goal is to recruit Haredim, but in practice all the components of the law guarantee that they will not be drafted.” 

“The law grants immediate amnesty to all deserters today, meaning a reward for those who desert. It also stipulates that a young Haredi who extends [his studies] until the age of 26 will be exempt [from service] for life.” 

“The law is full of such bluffs,” Bennett said, noting that such tricks are the reason the law is opposed by so many defense officials. 

“That's why the IDF opposes this law. That's why the previous Defense Minister Yoav Gallant opposed this law and was fired. That's why the chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Yuli Edelstein, opposed this law and was fired. Every professional who saw this law determined that the law is an Israel bluff.” 

Bennett claimed that the purpose of passing the law is only to preserve the current coalition government, and attacked the ultra-Orthodox claim that Torah study is incompatible with military service. 

“There is an argument that it is impossible to combine military service with Torah study,” Bennett stated. “Where did this invention come from that one should sit in a yeshiva and not enlist? The Torah states the opposite. ‘Will your brothers go to war and you sit here?’ [Number 32:6] Moses rebukes those he thought wanted to evade,” Bennett claimed. 

Concluding his remarks, Bennett stated, “All the heroes of the Torah were warriors. Joshua son of Nun, Gideon, and King David were all great warriors.” 

He referred to the members of the religious Zionism community, many of whom also study in yeshiva, but also enlist in large numbers in the IDF. 

“The tens of thousands of soldiers of religious Zionism were revealed in this war in all their glory,” Bennett proclaimed. 

“With the Gemara [rabbinic analysis and commentary in the Talmud] in hand while in the heart of Khan Younis. This is true Judaism,” Bennett stated. “Friends, we can all unite as a nation only when we all serve as a nation. I call on all citizens of Israel to stand together with the soldiers of the IDF in the face of this anti-Zionist law.” 

“A member of Knesset who raises his hand in favor of this law will bear a mark of disgrace for the rest of his days,” he concluded. “We do not lose hope, the people of Israel live.”