Netanyahu vows law to draft 23,000 chareidim in 3.5 years

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Sunday morning in a pre-election interview that his government plans to advance legislation that would bring 23,000 chareidi men into the IDF over three and a half years.

In an interview with Benny Titelbaum on Kan Moreshet, Netanyahu attacked rival right-wing parties and warned against the loss of votes in the bloc.

"We brought a law and I will pass it, for the enlistment of 23,000 chareidim in three and a half years. They brought 5,000, that was their proposal," Netanyahu said. Asked why his government had not succeeded in passing the law during its four years in office, he replied: "We almost succeeded. We really had a gap in the end of one mandate. I assume that if we get more mandates, we will be able to pass it this time, and it will really be an important correction."

He clarified his position on enlistment: "Whoever is not going to enlist, or whoever says, 'I have respect for the Torah world,' but whoever doesn't learn, must enlist." He later addressed sharply those who oppose enlistment absolutely: "And whoever says, 'We will enlist, or we will die and not enlist,' let him go to prison."

"Fake right" - attack on rivals

Netanyahu warned against splitting right-wing votes in the election, and referred among other things to the possibility that Ofer Winter's party would run. According to him, such a party could burn votes or transfer them to the rival bloc.

"If you vote right, vote for the right. This is fake right," Netanyahu said. He claimed that even if Winter crosses the electoral threshold, there is no guarantee he will support a right-wing government, and recalled the Bennett government that was formed with the support of Ra'am.

The prime minister also accused Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Liberman and Bennett party chairman of past cooperation with Arab parties. "Liberman went with the Muslim Brotherhood once, he will do it again. Bennett certainly did it, he will also do it again," he said.

Defense Minister Katz (Photo: Chaim Goldberg, Flash 90)

Netanyahu called on right-wing voters to go to the polls and warned of a situation in which right-wing parties do not cross the electoral threshold. He recalled the 1992 elections, in which, according to him, many right-wing votes were lost because people voted for parties that did not cross the threshold.

"If the right goes out to vote, we win. You have to understand, if it doesn't go out to vote, they win," he said. Toward the end of the interview, Netanyahu returned to calling on the right-wing public to vote, and presented the election in terms of a decision between the camps: "This election is either right or Palestine, either right or nuclear, and forgive me for the expression, because it really gives you chills. It's either Bibi or Tibi."

Regarding the violence in Judea and Samaria and the attack on diplomats, Netanyahu condemned the acts but emphasized that he first wants to clarify the facts. "Attacking diplomats is something that is not acceptable at all. Attacking people and violence by rioters is something I cannot accept," he said. According to him, this is a phenomenon that has no justification, and it also harms law-abiding residents of Judea and Samaria.

Netanyahu added that he is deploying the Shin Bet to deal with the phenomenon, which he described as one in which youths from troubled homes are usually involved.

Regarding Iran, he said that the security establishment and the political echelon are monitoring the possibility that Israel's enemies will try to attack before the election. According to him, Israel has significantly damaged the capabilities of Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas, but work remains to be completed.

He declared that his government will act to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, and attacked Gadi Eisenkot with the claim that establishing a government under his leadership would require cooperation with Arab parties and with the left. "I said that I will form a right-wing government with all the existing members of this coalition, and whoever wants to join based on our principles," he said. According to him, the principles include opposition to a Palestinian state, preserving Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people, a strong security policy and a free economy.