Rabbi Yigal Levinstein, the Rosh Mechina of the Bnei Dovid mechina in Eli, slammed attempts to link the IDF’s shortage of combat soldiers to the non-enlistment of Chareidi bnei yeshivos.

Speaking in an interview with Galey Yisrael on Thursday, Rabbi Levinstein said: “It’s a mistake to say there is a shortage of soldiers because of the Chareidi public. The Chareidim never enlisted, and the entire manpower problem began elsewhere.”

Rabbi Levinstein was referring to the fact that before the October 7 massacre, the IDF had developed a “conceptzia” of a “small but smart” army—and had dramatically reduced combat forces.

“I enlisted after the Yom Kippur War,” Rabbi Levinstein continued. “We had half the population we have today, and back then there were 14 reserve divisions. Today there are only six divisions. How is it possible that a country with four million Jews had 14 reserve divisions? There were no Chareidim in the IDF, and even the Religious Zionists were hardly serving in the army at that time.”

Rabbi Levinstein also expressed deep regret over the growing tensions between the Religious Zionist and Chareidi sectors, accusing various parties of deliberately fueling the divide.

“They have succeeded in driving a wedge between us, ” Rabbi Levinstein said. “The burden on the reserve forces will not be eased by even a millimeter unless a process begins here that respects a population that is ideologically disconnected from the state.”

It should be noted that even after the October 7 massacre, at least 4,000 Chareidim who wanted to enlist in the IDF were turned away. In addition, Chareidim who had served in the army and wanted to serve in the reserves after October 7 were never called up.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)