After serving 24 years as a Shas lawmaker, former minister Yaakov Margi has stepped away from political life. In a candid interview on the Mischak HaKisaot podcast produced by Yisroel Hayom and hosted by Shirit Avitan Cohen, Margi offered unusually sharp criticism of both his former party and the broader chareidi political leadership, particularly over its handling of the military draft issue.

Reflecting on the current state of the chareidi community, Margi argued that today’s rabbinic leadership lacks the unified authority that once existed.

“The chareidi community is very complex, and there is no strong Torah leadership like there once was. In the Sephardic community, there was Maran Rav Ovadia Yosef, who knew how to make decisive rulings, and among the Ashkenazi leadership there were also Gedolei Yisroel who knew how to do so. Today there is rabbinic leadership, but it is fragmented. Everyone is looking backward, wondering what people will say about them. And what happened? We all rejected the Peleg Yerushalmi. Now all of us—and when I say all of us, I mean the entire chareidi leadership, including the chareidi members of Knesset—have pushed the entire chareidi community into their hands.”

Margi described the ongoing draft crisis as “a bleeding wound” and expressed regret over what he believes was a missed opportunity to resolve the issue legislatively.

“This is a bleeding wound. I cry over it. They should have been wise rather than simply right, and they should have passed Edelstein’s framework. The army would never have been able to fully implement it anyway. Instead, we failed to regulate the status of the yeshiva bochurim. We didn’t draft those who aren’t learning, nor those in the middle. The army accomplished nothing. I was there in the past when the army genuinely wanted to recruit. We worked together with the Defense Ministry, created enlistment tracks, and large numbers enlisted. I couldn’t walk through the streets of Geulah or Bnei Brak. People chased after me because I was encouraging enlistment.”

Asked to summarize his broader philosophy on military service, Margi said he believes responsibility toward the country cannot simply be ignored.

“It is impossible to be a Jew with values and merely pay lip service to the idea of sharing the burden, or visit wounded soldiers at Tel Hashomer, or attend funerals, and then do nothing. I recognize the value of Torah learning—don’t misunderstand me—but the two are not mutually exclusive. Even before discussing the sefer and the sword model of the Religious Zionist community, if you’re needed now, then come. I was told to stay quiet. I remained silent for a year, and it frustrated me. But if they made a mistake, it was a serious one. On the contrary—that’s exactly how we surrendered to the extremists.”

When asked whether the chareidi parties should have publicly declared that those who are not learning Torah should serve in the military, Margi replied that they failed to do so.

“They didn’t say it, so I’m saying it now. The solution will not come from the chareidi politicians or from the rabbinic leadership because, objectively, they cannot deliver it. We missed the momentum. The chareidi public is not monolithic. There are different segments, and there are segments that are ready—they just need a small push.”

Margi also criticized what he described as Shas aligning itself too closely with the Ashkenazi chareidi leadership.

“That was a serious mistake. We should have said less publicly. We should have led this legislation. I look at Klal Yisroel as a whole. Sadly, and I hope I’m wrong, I believe that part of the Ashkenazi chareidi worldview still lives with the mentality of the shtetl in Eretz Yisroel, where preserving the shtetl is the supreme interest. That’s not my outlook. For me, Toras Yisroel, Eretz Yisroel, and Am Yisroel are one. They are not three separate things.”

Margi also questioned the necessity of recent legislative initiatives aimed at protecting Torah study.

“As far as I’m concerned, there was no need for a Basic Law on Torah study. There was no need for the arrests law. We should have advanced a draft law and enlisted those who are not learning. Everyone should have done their job. The army also had responsibilities. What are you waiting for—the legislature? You already have a draft law that applies to everyone. Start drafting people. Start creating a reality where uniforms are hanging from clotheslines in chareidi neighborhoods.”

{Matzav.com}