JERUSALEM – Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz sharply criticized plans by ultra-Orthodox parties to stage a massive anti-draft protest in Jerusalem later this week, warning the demonstration threatens to deepen social divisions at a time of national recovery.
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The rally, backed by Degel HaTorah, Agudat Yisrael, Shas, and other Haredi groups, was called in response to what organizers describe as a “wave of arrests” of yeshiva students who refused military summonses.
Speaking before a Knesset faction meeting, Gantz accused the protest’s backers of showing contempt for soldiers still fighting in Gaza and for families mourning loved ones. “When hostages are returning home and soldiers remain on the battlefield, those who avoided the burden should not be mocking those who carried it,” he said.
Gantz appealed directly to Haredi leaders and rabbis to intervene, urging them “not to cooperate with extremists” and to “put an end to this madness.”
The former defense minister also reaffirmed that Blue and White would only join a government committed to passing a universal draft law. “We will not be part of a coalition that sends others to war while funding those who avoid it,” he declared.
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