Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef threatened in his weekly Saturday night sermon that Haredim would leave Israel en masse if their exemption from the country's compulsory service is not renewed, sparking calls from critics for his resignation.
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Sephardic chief rabbi, Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, said the IDF is successful because of the yeshiva students' Torah study
(Photo: Shlomi Cohen)
Speaking to his adherents, Rabbi Yosef compared the Haredim to the ancient priestly tribe of Levi and tied Israel's military successes to studying the Torah.
"The tribe of Levi is exempt from the army. They are not taken, under any circumstances," he said. “If you force us to go to the army, we’ll all move abroad. We will buy tickets; there is no such thing as forcing us into the army. The state stands on this.
"The yeshivas and kollels are what holds up the world. The state exists on Torah study, and without the Torah, there would have been no success for the army."
Yosef's words, spoken in the same place as his father, former chief rabbi Ovadia Yosef, used to lecture on Saturday nights, also echoed his sentiments about Haredi military service in Israel.
"A severe sentence is hovering over us," the late Rabbi Ovadia Yosef said in 2013 when the issue of Haredi conscription also came to the fore. "Blessed are those who labor in the Torah ... the Torah is in danger, when will there be scholars, if they are conscripted into the army? Gentlemen, we are in great sorrow, great danger, spare your sons, spare your sons' sons who will engage in Torah study."
"We will have to, God forbid, leave the Land of Israel to move abroad," he said at the time.
"Rabbi Yosef's words are an insult and disgrace to the IDF soldiers who risk their lives to defend the country. Rabbi Yosef is a public servant receiving a salary from the state, he cannot threaten the state," Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said in response to Yosef's statements.
Lapid doubled down on Sunday morning in an interview on Army Radio. “If the Haredim go abroad, they will find that the ultra-Orthodox there work for a living, not even dreaming that someone will finance them,” he said.
On social media, he explained how a service exemption for ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students hinders Israel's ability to defend itself.
“If 66,000 ultra-Orthodox youth enlist, the IDF will get 105 new battalions that are needed for Israel’s security," Lapid wrote.
The ultra-Orthodox Shas party, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government which considers Rabbi Yosef its spiritual leader, sharply criticized Lapid for his remarks.
"Take off your shoes before you speak disparagingly toward the chief rabbi, who expressed a clear and decisive opinion about the tremendous right of Torah scholars who defend the land. Those who silently encourage the insubordination of organizations opposing judicial reform should not lecture us about morals," the party said in a statement.
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National Unity Party leader Benny Gantz, a former IDF chief who joined the government and War Cabinet after the start of the war on Hamas in Gaza, labeled the chief rabbi's remarks a "moral affront" to the Israeli state and society.
"After 2000 years in exile, we returned to our land. We will fight for it and never abandon it. Rabbi Yosef's words are a moral affront to the state and Israeli society. Everyone should take part in the sacred right to serve and fight for our state, especially in this difficult time. Even our ultra-Orthodox brothers," Gantz said in a statement.
The ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit Party, headed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, said in a statement that serving in the IDF hews to the dictates of the Torah.
“Serving in the IDF is an immense right of a Jew who defends himself in his own land and a great commandment,” the statement read. “In King David's army, there were Torah scholars. We do not believe in coercing the Haredi community to enlist, and things should be done with understanding and love. Much of the controversy can be resolved through appropriate recruitment. We will never leave our holy land!”
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, in a post in memory of his cousin Major (res.) Amishar Ben David who fell in the southern Gaza Strip the night before Yosef's comments, wrote "I hope that whoever made these remarks will understand his mistake, retract it and apologize."
Avigdor Liberman, leader of the opposition's right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party and a vocal critic of Israel's Haredi community, asserted that "without duties, there are no rights,” adding, “It’s a shame that Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef and the ultra-Orthodox machers continue to harm the security of Israel and act against Jewish law."
Rabbi David Stav, chair of the Tzohar Rabbinical Organization, said, "During this time of continued pain and tragedy for the people of Israel, where nearly every day we are witness to more and more of our children falling in defense of this land, every focus must be on defending and supporting service in our military. Any statement that encourages avoiding IDF service is a despicable moral stain and blasphemous.
"The threat of leaving Israel specifically to avoid defending our nation is particularly reprehensible and completely contradicts the spirit of Halacha. One would expect that someone who sits at the head of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate would encourage IDF service as opposed to dodging service to the extent of actually leaving the country."
Some organizations called for Yosef to be removed from his position over the statements.