Israel needs unity and responsibility, not hollow exemptions enabling evasion while enemies exploit internal weakness.
Rabbi David Stav, chairman of the Tzohar Rabbinical Organization and Chief Rabbi of Shoham, has delivered a blistering moral indictment of the Israeli government’s proposed legislation on haredi recruitment to the Israel Defense Forces, calling it deceptive, ineffective, and ethically indefensible during wartime.
Speaking to Arutz Sheva – Israel National News, Rabbi Stav dismissed claims that opposing the bill threatens coalition stability. He argued instead that the legislation preserves political convenience while falsely presenting itself as historic reform. According to him, the bill will not draft a single individual who does not already intend to serve.
Rabbi Stav accused lawmakers of privately acknowledging the bill’s failure while publicly marketing it as transformational. He said inflated figures about “tens of thousands” of recruits are knowingly misleading, designed to pacify public anger without changing reality on the ground.
Framing the issue as a Torah obligation rather than a political dispute, Rabbi Stav stressed that Jewish ethics demand shared national defense—especially as reservists face repeated deployments. He highlighted the growing toll on families, recounting personal moments that reflect a nationwide strain borne by the same citizens again and again.
He sharply criticized senior haredi leadership for refusing even symbolic endorsement of enlistment for those not studying Torah full-time. Instead, he warned, some continue portraying the army as a threat to religious identity—language that deepens division while Israel confronts enemies that exploit internal fractures.
Rabbi Stav also condemned statistical manipulation, noting that the state counts former haredi students—who left religious life years earlier—as “haredi recruits,” masking the absence of real change. Dialogue, he argued, has failed for decades, while state incentives reward non-service and penalize responsibility.
Real progress, he said, occurs only where legal consequences exist. The current trajectory, he warned, is not reform but erosion—of truth, solidarity, and national resilience at a moment when Israel can least afford it.
