
Degel HaTorah MK Warns of “Chareidi Uprising” Amid Escalating Draft Battle
Degel HaTorah MK Yaakov Asher launched a blistering attack Monday against Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and Israel’s Supreme Court, accusing the legal establishment of waging what he described as a systematic ideological war against the chareidi public.
Speaking at a conference for chareidi mortgage advisers, Asher warned that growing pressure on the Torah community could eventually trigger widespread backlash across the chareidi sector.
“The chareidi public will not sit quietly,” Asher declared. “In the end, this will turn into some kind of uprising.”
At the center of his remarks was the ongoing legal and political battle surrounding the draft issue and government funding connected to the chareidi community. Asher claimed the judiciary and legal advisers are deliberately targeting chareidim not only politically, but economically and socially as well.
He described the situation as “a legal war of judicial activism by the attorney general,” arguing that the campaign is fueled by both political and ideological motives.
According to Asher, the legal system is attempting “even ultimately to starve the chareidi population, causing disproportionate harm to women, teachers, kindergarten workers, and children.”
The MK accused Israel’s legal establishment of applying double standards when it comes to human rights and civil protections.
“When they need to pass a law to deport terrorists’ families, all the legal advisers are concerned not to violate the rights of those families,” he said.
“All the sensitivity that the attorney general, her colleagues, and the Supreme Court justices have — all the sensitivity regarding human rights — take 10% of that sensitivity and apply it to this public.”
Asher went on to describe what he said are the practical consequences of government policies affecting chareidi families.
“There are children struggling in school who have tutors helping them, and now they wanted to stop funding for those tutors,” he said. “Why? Because maybe one of the tutors earns a living from it and is considered by them to be a draft dodger. So what do you want? That these children fall apart and later end up being treated by social services?”
The veteran lawmaker portrayed the situation as an organized and relentless campaign against the chareidi sector.
“Every day there’s another letter, every day another directive, every day something else,” Asher said. “This is a war against the entire chareidi public. And it’s not just political. In politics, you can maneuver and make different moves. Here, every move you make, the court comes and overturns everything.”
He also argued that government policy toward chareidim is contradictory and economically self-defeating.
“You are harming the economy while at the same time talking about legislation to encourage public transportation,” he said. “And with the other hand, you are making life harder for the very public that uses public transportation more than anyone else.”
Asher stressed that any response from the chareidi community would remain nonviolent and guided by rabbinic leadership, even as frustration intensifies.
“The chareidi public will not sit quietly. In the end, this will turn into some kind of uprising, but of course a legal one. We are not people of violence or things of that nature. Some say it’s a shame, but no — these are the instructions we receive from the Gedolei Torah, and that is how we will act.”
He concluded by saying that the mounting pressure is increasingly uniting all segments of the chareidi community, including both full-time learners and working families.
“In the end — and this is our strength — they are putting everyone into the same category,” Asher said. “Those whose Torah is their profession and those who work as well, because they are also harming their families and their sons who are learning Torah. They are dragging the entire public into this.”
Asher closed with another sharp jab at the legal establishment, accusing it of showing greater concern for Palestinians than for Israel’s chareidi citizens.
“They are causing enormous damage to the State of Israel,” he said, “but they will continue protecting the quality of life of various Palestinians in Area C.”