Moshe Feiglin, chairman of Zehut and number two on the Knesset list headed by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, has called for an end to state funding for yeshiva students.
In a podcast with media personality Avi Shoshan, Feiglin addressed the issue of yeshiva budgets and said: "We need to stop funding yeshiva students."
The statement draws particular attention given Feiglin's position at the top of the list: immediately after Smotrich and ahead of senior Religious Zionism figures Orit Strock and Simcha Rothman. The remarks join previous statements by Smotrich against the chareidi public, and raise fresh questions about the list's positions toward the Torah world and chareidi society.
Chareidi sources said in response that "Feiglin's statement should light a red flag for anyone who cares about the Torah world. This is not someone on the margins of the list, but its number two. The chareidi public needs to examine the actions, the lists and the positions in practice and not settle for courting and declarations during election season."
According to them, "precisely at a time when the Torah world faces major challenges, the chareidi public needs to ask who truly stood by its side, who acted on its behalf and who seeks its trust, while someone calling to stop funding yeshiva students stands at the top of his list, alongside Smotrich's previous attacks on the chareidi public."
