Likud casts religious Zionist critics of Haredi draft bill as left-wing agitators |
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party this week accused religious Zionist organizations opposed to the coalition’s bill exempting ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students from military service of serving as a front for left-wing activists looking to bring down the government.
In a post on X on Tuesday, the party shared a segment from the pro-government Channel 14 purporting to tie leading members of the Partnership for Service — an organization composed of religious Zionist women married to reservists, which advocates for Haredi conscription and opposes the exemption bill — to the religious left and the anti-government protest movement.
The network, often accused of serving as a mouthpiece for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, played up Partnership for Service members’ opposition to the government’s judicial overhaul, involvement in Arab-Jewish coexistence efforts, and ties to politicians such as Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and former prime minister Naftali Bennett to delegitimize its efforts.
Bennett is a longtime right-wing rival of Netanyahu and is considered his most credible threat in this year’s election. Sa’ar, originally from Netanyahu’s party, was sidelined by the premier and became a fierce critic, before changing course in 2024, returning to Likud and mending ties with Netanyahu.
“The investigation proves beyond any doubt that the campaign of Partnership for Service against the draft law serves as cover for an incitement and division campaign by left-wing organizations inside the national camp, with one sole purpose – toppling the right-wing government and establishing a left-wing government together with the Arab parties,” Likud tweeted, promising to pass “a historic draft law that will lead to the enlistment of tens of thousands of Haredim” and ease the burden on Israel’s reservists.
On Thursday, in a closed meeting of the Knesset Foreign........