Netanyahu Defends Torah World, Jabs Lapid in Fiery Knesset Exchange: “We Would Have No Future Without Torah Learning”
Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu delivered an impassioned speech Monday night in the Knesset, forcefully defending the centrality of the Torah world to Jewish survival while trading sharp barbs with opposition leader Yair Lapid during a heated 40-signature debate.
Speaking after Lapid renewed his attacks, Netanyahu chose to respond directly, combining pointed political criticism with an emotional defense of Torah study. Addressing the draft law, Netanyahu accused the opposition of taking what he called a “narrow, extreme, and divisive” stance, while his government, he said, is pursuing broad national consensus.
“We are advancing a historic framework that will lead to the enlistment of 23,000 chareidim over the next three and a half years,” Netanyahu said. “This is a real revolution, with an enormous number of recruits. The law we formulated includes personal and institutional sanctions, but I believe they won’t be needed, because the chareidi public will meet the enlistment targets we set.”
The prime minister went on to contrast the government’s proposal with what he described as Lapid’s previous legislation. “We quadrupled the number of recruits. Which law is better, your draft-evasion law or our enlistment law? Our law serves the state; your law serves you politically. You’re not interested in chareidi enlistment. You want to throw obstacles in the way of the historic law we are bringing. Your fear is that we will succeed — that the draft law will pass and tens of thousands of chareidim will enlist in the IDF.”
Lapid responded by citing the pain of bereaved families, describing testimony given in the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee by the widow of fallen IDF officer Emanuel Moreno. “Bereaved families are falling apart when they see attempts to give chareidim exemption from sacrifice,” Lapid said, accusing the government of moral failure. He further claimed that a senior chareidi minister compared calls for chareidi enlistment to forcing Jews to wear a yellow badge.
After Lapid’s remarks, Netanyahu returned to the podium for a second speech, rejecting the opposition’s claims and reaffirming his support for both national security and Torah learning. “We are now passing a real draft law, as opposed to your evasion law,” he said. “I stand behind everything I said about what is in our law and what was not in yours. I understand that there are people who are unhappy about this. You certainly are, because you want it to fail.”
Netanyahu strongly condemned the comparison to the yellow badge. “I denounce with complete force the talk about the yellow patch,” he said. “Enlisting in the Israel Defense Forces is not a yellow patch. It is good that hundreds of young chareidim came yesterday. But at the same time, we will preserve the Torah world, because without the Torah world we would not have survived here and we would not have reached where we are today.”
In one of the most emotional moments of the debate, Netanyahu linked Jewish continuity throughout history to Torah study. “We would not have endured, we would not have reached this time, and we would have no future without it,” he said. “If you follow Jewish history — exile after exile, slaughter, plunder, horrific acts — throughout all of that, Torah learning and the preservation of Jewish heritage remained. Without it, we would not be here. I respect this. I do not scorn it, and I am not trying to eliminate it. I want coexistence: there will be Torah scholars, and there will also be those who enlist. Thank God this is beginning to happen, and soon it will happen on a much larger scale. If you care about the future of the state, this is something you should encourage.”
Netanyahu concluded with a sharp personal jab at Lapid, tying the opposition leader’s political standing to his priorities. “You know why you’re polling at four seats today,” Netanyahu said. “A year and a half ago you told me there wouldn’t be a fountain named after me, there wouldn’t be a square named after me. Do you really think that’s what interests me? I’m here to ensure the existence of the Jewish people. That’s what interests me, not you. And that’s why the polls give you four mandates.”
{Matzav.com}
