Rabbi Shlomo Benizri spoke today (Thursday) with Sivan Cohen on 103fm radio about the conscription law, and the crisis that is worsening against the backdrop of the stormy demonstrations by members of the 'Jerusalem faction'.
Rabbi Benizri made it clear that young Haredi men who are not studying in yeshiva should enlist in the army, and that the army should prepare to absorb them better.
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He also referred to an article in which he discussed 'dropouts' who refuse to enlist - and caused a stir after they made opaque and malicious statements in interviews they gave on Channel 12, while demonstrating alienation and arrogance towards those serving in the IDF.
""Anyone whose Torah is his art, don't touch him. Anyone who doesn't study Torah and is engaged in all other pursuits should enlist, but as soon as they build the right frameworks," Benizri explained. "To date, there have been several attempts and they have failed. The fact that they are establishing the Hasmonaean Brigade today and promising that everything will be fine is a sign that the previous things have failed.".
When asked what he thought about young Haredi men who were not studying, but refused to enlist, he replied: "I was the director of a yeshiva, and whoever was registered studied with me, and I made sure of that. The yeshiva are bursting with students who are working hard in Torah. What usually gets into the media are those brats and debauched people who shouldn't be drafted, they should be put in prison. They go around talking about business and belittling soldiers.
""I'm talking about the whole thing, and I don't agree with this phrase 'we will die and not be drafted,'" he emphasized. "It's a finger in the eye toward those who give their lives.".
Rabbi Benizri believes that there is a need for an army and a need for Torah scholars. "We need warriors, and we also need the army of God. There is an explosion in size today because the state, the army and the politicians decided to make a fuss - and now we have accepted that there will be no Haredim conscription. They sat in the Knesset for at least a year, and there was agreement among the rabbis on a quota of 5,000 conscripts per year, and at the last moment Edelstein backed down, and so everything exploded. There is a will and there is a willingness.".
Regarding the recordings of Minister Deri in which he is heard speaking to young Haredi men, urging them not to enlist, he said: "I am not Aryeh Deri's official spokesman, but I saw him tell the Torah scholars that none of them will enlist. He is leading the movement that those who do not study Torah will enlist.".
