Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Moshe Maya, a senior member of the Council of Torah Sages, spoke Wednesday morning on Radio Kol Berama amid escalating enlistment tensions, economic sanctions, and ultra-Orthodox protests against the draft. In an interview with Yaki Admakar and Israel Cohen on the show “Eight Zero Zero,” he backed the caravan protests, but said he personally opposes blocking roads because it wastes the public’s time. He said the demonstrations should be conducted “gently,” with vehicles driving slowly at the roadside, reciting Torah and making announcements.
Maya argued that there is a religious duty to protest when Torah scholars are being dishonored. Quoting Talmudic and halachic sources, he said failure to object to insults against rabbis is a grave sin, and accused the Supreme Court, the government’s legal adviser, and the court itself of violating the promise in Israel’s Declaration of Independence not to force religion. He said the court intended to disgrace Torah scholars, adding that those who beat or humiliate yeshiva students would lose their share in the world to come.
He also blamed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other politicians for failing to pass an enlistment law, but said political failure was ultimately determined from heaven. Asked whether ultra-Orthodox parties should switch to the left and support figures such as Gadi Eisenkot or Naftali Bennett in exchange for protections for yeshivot, he rejected the idea and recalled the “dirty trick” era, saying past promises from Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin could not be trusted.
Maya then described talks with senior IDF officials about creating ultra-Orthodox frameworks in the army, including the Hashmonaim Brigade. He said he demanded binding army regulations and real rabbinic authority, but the General Staff refused. He warned that if the army’s culture mixes men and women in tanks and other units, it cannot be trusted to preserve religious standards.
He concluded that enlistment is forbidden even for a young man who is not studying in a yeshiva. Citing Maimonides, Maya said people exposed to sinful environments should avoid them entirely, and added that until the Messiah comes, “it is forbidden to enlist,” because the Torah alone protects the Jewish people.
