Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
“For four years, we have witnessed relentless attacks on the ultra-Orthodox community, morning and night, by the media and the left-wing bloc.
The hypocrisy we are seeing now is staggering. Suddenly, it is no longer a ‘draft evasion law’ but a ‘soft conscription law.’ Suddenly, they are no longer ‘parasites,’ ‘draft dodgers,’ or ‘destroyers of the country.’ Instead, they are being given a clean slate—all for the sake of the left’s thirst for power, while breaking every promise they made during the elections.
The only ones who have worked, and will continue to work, to regulate the status of Torah scholars so that anyone who studies Torah can continue to do so legally are Likud and the right-wing bloc.
In the face of attempts to manipulate public opinion, we insisted on creating a genuine solution, through agreement and cooperation with the leaders and elected representatives of the ultra-Orthodox community, while ensuring that anyone who does not study Torah in a yeshiva will enlist in the IDF—entering as an ultra-Orthodox Jew and leaving as an ultra-Orthodox Jew.
We will work to complete this important mission.”