New issues have so shaken the Torah world in recent years as the growing crisis surrounding the status of the bnei hayeshivos. Arrests, sanctions and increasingly hostile public rhetoric have left many in the chareidi community with the sense that a line has been crossed. Moreover, a struggle once largely confined to the political arena has spilled out into the streets, bringing with it growing social unrest.
With tensions rising and the governing coalition having already collapsed, Israel now appears headed for new elections. Many are asking whether a path back to consensus still exists.
Few public figures have been more closely involved in these developments than former Bnei Brak Mayor MK Rabbi Yaakov Asher. A senior representative of Degel HaTorah and a veteran of both municipal and national politics, Rabbi Asher has been deeply engaged in the effort to safeguard the standing of the bnei hayeshivos and the broader interests of the olam haTorah during one of the most turbulent periods the community has faced in decades.
In this candid conversation, he discusses the arrests of bnei hayeshivos, the growing social tensions surrounding the giyus debate, the future of the draft legislation and the prospect of new elections. He also explains why he believes the current moment represents far more than a political dispute; in his view, it is a defining struggle over the place of Torah in Eretz Yisrael itself.
The attempt by the government of Israel to arrest bnei yeshivah for refusing to enlist in the army—who are doing so in accordance with the express directives of gedolei Yisrael—defies logic. What do you believe this policy is intended to accomplish?
To our dismay, this is the case for many reasons. Some are political, stemming from those who seek to bring down the right-wing government. Others are objective realities arising from the current war. It is understandable that in a time of war people who do not live with emunah will fail to understand the importance of preserving Torah study and the role it has played in sustaining klal Yisrael throughout our history.
All of these factors have converged to create a campaign of incitement against the Torah-learning community and the chareidi community more broadly. They speak against all of us as a single entity, and they have sought to portray us as a fifth column in society. The struggle against us is reaching a point that could perhaps even lead to a civil war.
I’m not the biggest fan of American Vice President JD Vance, but he said something that is both painful and relevant to this conversation. He remarked that Israel believes that every problem can be solved through the use of force. In this instance, I understand that those who don’t appreciate the value of Torah study object to the present arrangement, particularly in the midst of a war. But to imagine that anything can be resolved through coercion is irrational.
People like your readers, who learned in yeshivah and were raised with emunah, know that Torah saves and protects us. Without Torah serving as our “insurance policy,” klal Yisrael would have been wiped out thousands of years ago. Yet our enemies have never succeeded in destroying us, baruch Hashem.
Unfortunately, there are many people in Israel who don’t understand this or don’t believe it. As a result, there are figures in the media and political sphere who are exploiting that lack of understanding to set these two communities on a collision course.
I have been told by askanim that a lot of the pressure is coming from the hesder yeshivos, which suffered many losses since October 7. Would you like to comment on that?
I wouldn’t say that. The fact is that the Dati-Le’umi community is highly multifaceted and encompasses a very broad spectrum. There are those who are more chardal (chareidi-le’umi) and those who are less so. There are also some who have joined the anti-chareidi chorus largely out of naivete. They attack the chareidim because they serve in the army and feel that they are paying a terrible price, and they direct their pain and disappointment toward us.
However, they don’t understand something very important: the war being waged by the media and the Israeli left isn’t only against us; we simply happen to be first in line. They will be next, because that same left-wing alliance of media figures, politicians and the Kaplanist movement views the Dati-Le’umi community and the hesder talmidim as meshichi and dangerous to the country. They don’t like them any more than they like us, and maybe even less.
The entire campaign of delegitimization being carried out against us is a means of dismantling what has become known as the right-wing bloc, which includes the Dati-Le’umi and the chareidim. If you weaken one limb of that body—the chareidim—you can bring down the entire bloc, which is their ultimate goal. All they care about is removing the right wing from the political map and gaining control of all branches of government.
This is why people from that community or the hesder yeshivos who attack us are really attacking themselves, because if we are harmed it will ultimately bring them down as well. We have been partners with them for many years on a wide range of issues. They always understood how important the olam haTorah is to us, and we always understood how important settling every part of Eretz Yisrael is to them, and we consistently supported each other. If they choose to turn their backs on us, we will not feel obligated to support them on issues that are important to them.
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