Settlement and National Missions Minister Orit Strook told Channel 7 at the "Bechol Levavcha" conference in Jerusalem that Israel has achieved extraordinary results in Lebanon and must preserve the security buffer created beyond the border. She said Israel is "establishing itself on the ground," expanding the gains and creating a safe zone that will remain in place to protect residents.
According to Strook, "for the first time the State of Israel is clearing the entire area from the border northward for about 10 kilometers of all terror infrastructure and terrorists." She said Israel marked the yellow line and that, as long as Hezbollah remains in Lebanon, Israel will stay there too. She added that even with wartime constraints on the army, operations in southern Lebanon must continue because Israel is reaching Hezbollah and Iran's "centers of cities" and threatening what they built against Israel.
Strook also called for a clear message to the United States that Israel will do what is necessary in Lebanon to ensure its security. Israel, she said, must first tell itself and then others that it is "an independent, sovereign state" that acts as it sees fit, and "when we say things clearly, things are accepted."
Asked about ultra-Orthodox enlistment and her support for the current draft bill, Strook said her camp does not encourage draft evasion and rejects the view that Torah study exempts a person from military service. She said that in her circles, "even great rabbis and judges" serve in the army, and argued the issue is practical because the government and cabinet see a severe manpower shortage.
She said the aim is to bring as many ultra-Orthodox soldiers as possible into the IDF, noting that the proposal would remove the ultra-Orthodox veto and create a system in which those who study continue studying, while those who do not study enlist. She concluded by calling the conference a great privilege and described it as part of a broader national religious awakening tied to redemption, return to Zion, immigration, and settlement.
