Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, the former Sephardic chief rabbi, said Wednesday night that it is 'woe to us' that a right-wing government is advancing conscription measures against yeshiva students. He asserted that those engaged in Torah study are exempt from military service, and that those not studying Torah are also exempt.
Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, the former Sephardic chief rabbi and a senior halakhic authority, issued a sharp critique Wednesday night of the current coalition's legislative efforts to scale back the broad draft exemptions for yeshiva students. Speaking as the Knesset advances a bill that would gradually reduce the number of deferments, Yosef declared: 'Woe to us that specifically in a right-wing, right-wing government there are such decrees.' He stated that both those who study Torah and those who do not are exempt from military service. The remarks, posted by his office without further elaboration, signal intensifying opposition from the ultra-Orthodox leadership to the proposed reforms. The political context: the bill has pitted coalition members against each other, with Religious Zionism MK Moshe Solomon recently saying he feels 'pain' over the party's vote on the matter, as The Zioneer reported on June 10. The statement comes amid a broader debate over the long-running exemption for Haredi men, which the High Court has ruled must be addressed by the state.
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