Posted on 10/12/21
| News Source: Times of Israel
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Tuesday called to curb the political influence of the ultra-Orthodox, angering Haredi lawmakers.
“I am happy there are charedim, but we need to limit their political sway,” Bennett said at the Jerusalem Post Conference at the Museum of Tolerance in downtown Jerusalem.
He included charedim as one of three main elements in Israel’s political arena, along with the nationalistic right and humanistic left.
Bennett, who is Orthodox, explained that all three political camps are “needed,” and that he “wouldn’t want an Israel without the religious aspect, because we are the Jewish state.”
“I wouldn’t want an Israel without a left-wing. While clearly, I feel differently on many issues, I am happy there is that counter so that we can debate it,” he added.
United Torah Judaism party leader Moshe Gafni said Bennett’s comment was “not surprising.”
“This is the same man who blatantly lies on topics that interest him at that moment. It is not surprising that Bennett also knows that he will not need us anymore, because this is his last term in the political system,” Gafni added.