Copyright ynetnews
As Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community prepares for a mass prayer and protest against the military draft of yeshiva students, some members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party say they are considering joining the event. The so-called “million-person rally” is scheduled to take place Thursday in Jerusalem, bringing together leading rabbis and followers from the country’s major ultra-Orthodox factions. The gathering is intended as a show of unity against efforts to conscript ultra-Orthodox men into the IDF, a long-running source of tension in Israeli politics. Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi said Monday on Kol Hai Radio that he may attend the rally. “When the fight is to stop the persecution of Torah learners, I think it’s certainly an idea to attend and take part,” he said. “Even if I can’t be there physically, my heart is certainly with all our brothers in the House of Israel who want to stop the persecution led by the attorney general.” Likud lawmaker Avihai Boaron voiced similar support, telling Kol Berama Radio that “there’s a covenant between Likud and the ultra-Orthodox public. Torah is the source of our life, and Torah study is a supreme value.” The event has drawn backing even from the extremist Jerusalem Faction, which said it would participate despite the rally being organized by the more moderate ultra-Orthodox leadership — including rabbis from the Shas and Degel HaTorah parties and the Hasidic rebbes of Agudat Yisrael. Advertisements published Monday in ultra-Orthodox newspapers urged the public to join the rally, which will coincide with a Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting expected to discuss a draft bill on military exemptions, to be presented by committee chair Boaz Bismuth of Likud. Opposition leader Yair Lapid sharply criticized Likud members who said they might attend. “Likud voters enlist, fight, die, and are wounded defending the homeland, while their elected representatives encourage corruption and draft-dodging,” Lapid told ynet. “Likud has stopped being a national party — it’s become a branch of the ultra-Orthodox and Ben-Gvir. In the government we’ll form, everyone will enlist, everyone will study core subjects, and everyone will work. There are no rights without obligations.”
