Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is the real architect of the draft evasion regulation, former high minister Naftali Bennett mentioned in an interview with 103FM on Wednesday.
“That is horrible, an actual desecration of the time period ‘non secular Zionism,’” he mentioned.
“There was no politician who pushed harder for the transfer of billions to draft-dodging haredim than Smotrich. He should be ashamed, he should go home, he should clear the field. He disgraces every person who wears a knitted kippah”
Bennett said watching the government’s conduct over the past few days has been “pretty hard,” specifically as combating continues in Lebanon.
“My eldest son may be in Lebanon. This executive is pushing horrific rules on their backs,” he mentioned.
Opposition Chief Yair Lapid and previous Top Minister Naftali Bennett attend an election tournament for the joint listing “Together” forward of the impending elections, in Tel Aviv, central Israel, Might 12, 2026. The listing is ready to be led by means of Bennett. (credit score: MIRIAM ALSTER/FLASH90)
“I need to cope with the warriors and inform them: I see you. Cling on tight, there are nonetheless 104 days of plunder and evasion, the reinforcements are at the method, and this horrible executive goes. We will be able to repair it in combination.”
Bennett dismissed the argument that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was forced to pass these laws to preserve the right-wing bloc as “nonsense.”
“I’m a constant political right-winger. I used to be no longer the person who passed portions of the Land of Israel to the enemy, I used to be no longer the person who launched 1000’s of terrorists, and I can no longer permit a unmarried centimeter of land to be passed over,” he said. “That isn’t the tale.”
New laws will see billions transferred to haredi community, Bennett claimed
Bennett slammed the government’s policies, noting how the “crazy” laws will see the transfer of “tens of billions to healthy young Haredim.”
“There are 100,000 of them, and if only 20 percent of them enlisted, there would be no manpower problem. It is very solvable. We will cancel the draft-exemption laws and pass the law we prepared, the Service Law, which redirects the money we save from the evaders to the people who serve, and first and foremost, to reservists,” he said.
With his plan, he explained, reservists could receive NIS 1 million to help purchase a first home, and free daycare for their children from ages zero to three.
“We will shower a lot of good on these few people,” he promised, though he said the project could only work by bringing the haredim into employment and service, claiming this could increase Israel’s GDP by NIS 70 billion a year.
“The money exists,” he said. “And that is why I am returning to politics, to fix the state, the economy, the distorted situation with our haredi brothers. This is my life’s mission.”
Plans may not be ‘sexy,’ but are still important
Bennett noted that while his plans may not seem as “sexy” as simply eliminating Netanyahu, it’s “much more important.”
Bennett also praised the growing number of parties in the opposition bloc, calling their leaders “excellent people.”
“Right now there are fragments of parties, and we will need to consolidate them and decide whether it is right for them to run as one large party, if they overcome personal issues, and if not, some of them will need not to run, and some will join existing parties,” he mentioned.
