Yisrael Beytenu Avigdor Liberman responded sharply today (Tuesday) to Shas leader Arye Deri's contention that Israel exists thanks to the tens of thousands of Haredi yeshiva students.
According to Kikar HaShabbat, Deri is increasingly frustrated at the refusal to advance the Draft Law, which would legalize the draft exemption for tens of thousands of Haredi yeshiva students, instead of sending them draft notices and even arrest warrants.
Deri said that "It is the privilege of the Jewish people to have Torah scholars. We are fighting for this. Who would have dreamed that the holy Torah scholars who dedicate their lives would be considered criminals in the Jewish state? Who imagined we would reach a situation where Torah scholars would be in danger of going to jail?"
Responding to this on X, Liberman said that "the privilege of the Jewish People is that it has the IDF - soldiers who give their lives to protect the state and the nation. Without the IDF, there would be no Torah scholars and be no state."
Then, rebutting the idea that Judaism and service in the IDF cannot work together, he posted a picture of IDF soldiers reading the Torah, with the caption "there is no contradiction between Torah and the army."
