Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu compared the police arrest of Torah students in Israel to a hypothetical European crackdown, saying such an act would provoke international outrage. The remarks were made Saturday evening in a follow-up to his earlier commitment to impose sanctions on those who do not study Torah.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continued to escalate his rhetoric on Haredi enlistment and Torah study Saturday evening, drawing an international analogy to frame the arrest of yeshiva students as an exceptional measure that would draw global condemnation if done abroad. In remarks carried by Israeli media, Netanyahu said: 'If a European country had sent police to arrest Torah students, everyone would be shocked.' The statement follows his earlier Saturday evening pledge to activate 'every possible sanction' against those who do not study Torah, as The Zioneer reported minutes earlier. The two statements together mark a sharpened public stance by the premier amid ongoing domestic controversy over Haredi military service exemptions and police enforcement actions against draft-dodging yeshiva students. Netanyahu did not specify which European country he had in mind or whether any concrete policy shift would follow the comparison. The remarks appear to be aimed at his ultra-Orthodox coalition partners, who have opposed any move to draft yeshiva students, while also addressing broader public sentiment both inside and outside Israel.
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