Israeli rabbi: ‘If they force us to go to the army, we’ll all move abroad’

Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel Yitzhak Yosef warned that ultra-Orthodox Jews will leave Israel en masse if the government ends their exemptions of mandatory military enlistment. ‘If they force us to go to the army, we’ll all move abroad,’ Yosef said during a weekly lecture. ‘We’ll buy a ticket… We’ll go there.’ ‘All these secular people don’t understand that without kollels and yeshivas, the army would not be successful,’ he said, referring to institutions where religious men study Jewish texts rather than working or enlisting. ‘The soldiers only succeed thanks to those learning Torah.’ Recently, Prime Minister Netanyahu said his government would find a way to end exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jews from Israeli military service.