Leader of the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Sephardi Shas Party, Arye Deri, accused IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir of attempting to “help the left-wing bloc,” and “causing damage to the military” after Zamir sent a recent warning against legislation advanced by Deri’s party that seeks to freeze the arrests of haredi draft evaders.
“He has lost it. What the chief of staff did during an election campaign was an attempt to help the left-wing bloc, without a doubt,” Deri said.
“He has no business involving himself in politics. This sets a very dangerous precedent. He has caused significant damage to the army,” he added.
The remarks came in a Thursday interview with the haredi Kikar Hashabbat news outlet, after the Knesset passed the contentious bill this week that will temporarily freeze arrests of haredi draft evaders, a measure expected to remain in effect for at least six months. The High Court of Justice on Wednesday later froze the law and will hear petitions to strike down the legislation.
The passage of the bill in its final readings came following severe legal warnings that the legislation is unbalanced and will not increase haredi enlistment amid the IDF’s severe manpower shortage, as well as outrage from bereaved families and reservists.
Zamir warns draft evasion bill raises issues of national security
Zamir warned ahead of the bill’s passage that implementing such a law would create an array of national security problems.
He stated that he opposes the bill’s implementation “completely and unequivocally.”
Among the issues raised by Zamir was that such a law would decrease recruitment both from the haredi community and from the general Israeli population by delegitimizing the idea of the IDF as the “nation’s army” in which everyone is equally obligated to serve.
Zamir has warned in recent months that the IDF could soon collapse if no solution is found for the manpower shortage.
The Shas party leader also said in his Thursday statements about Zamir that “the chief of staff is the last person who should be involved in this.”
“What he did sets a very dangerous precedent,” Deri added, saying that Zamir “did not help the army.”
Party leaders condemn Deri's statements
Deri’s remarks directed at Zamir sparked outrage from party leaders in the opposition bloc seeking to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the upcoming elections.
Yashar Party leader Gadi Eisenkot said that Deri’s remarks were “A display of breathtaking audacity and complete detachment.”
“If the haredi leadership had even a shred of self-awareness, the person who led and advanced the draft exemption legislation this week, while the best of our sons and daughters are deployed on multiple fronts, would at the very least have kept his ‘criticism’ of the chief of staff to himself,” Eisenkot added.
“Arye, after three years of war, perhaps it’s time to understand that military service is not a political issue. It is the insurance policy of the Jewish people in the State of Israel. It is a matter of national security,” Eisenkot added.
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett, who leads the Together Party, responded that “Deri’s attacks on the chief of staff strengthen Israel’s enemies and tear apart the IDF.”
“Only in a government of October 7 can a person like Deri, whose life’s work has been encouraging mass draft evasion, dare to accuse the chief of staff of his own failures.”
Yisrael Beytenu leader MK Avigdor Liberman said that someone who sits in the security cabinet while “simultaneously fighting to ensure that an entire sector does not enlist” was the last person who could attack the IDF chief of staff.
“In the next government, the parties of draft evaders will sit in the opposition,” Liberman vowed.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid referred to Deri’s recent visits to military prisons, in which the Shas leader went to express support for draft evaders.
“In the afternoon, he [Deri] embraced his own draft-evading grandchildren; and at night, from the security cabinet, he sent other people’s children to die in the war,” Lapid said.
“The chief of staff simply told the truth: because of Deri and his people, we do not have enough soldiers. Deri is a danger to national security,” Lapid added.
The haredi parties have continuously encouraged the coalition to advance legislation that would not increase haredi enlistment.
IDF warns of manpower shortage
The IDF has repeatedly warned of an urgent manpower shortage after more than two years of war.
In April, the High Court of Justice ordered that the state take concrete steps to revoke key financial benefits from draft evaders and to move toward criminal enforcement against haredi men who evade military service.
Deri has slammed the High Court, along with Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara, for her insistence on enforcing High Court decisions to seize the funds of haredi draft dodgers.
The tensions also come amid reports that Netanyahu has made a deal with the haredi parties to advance as much of their contentious legislation as possible in exchange for support on coalition legislation.
Netanyahu’s coalition has been on a legislative blitz to advance as much legislation as possible before the Knesset goes on recess this week ahead of the upcoming elections, scheduled for October 27.
Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.