Rabbi Moshe Maya, a member of Shas’s Council of Torah Sages and one of the movement’s senior rabbis, said on Wednesday that he opposes road blockades used to protest the arrests of haredi draft evaders, but insisted that protest itself is required. He said demonstrations should avoid disrupting the public, adding, “I do not personally like to block roads. People sit in traffic for two hours, who will give them back their time? That is the worst theft of all. The current protest by vehicles is the right one: do not block roads, drive on the side, slowly, and announce things gently.”
At the same time, Maya said there is a duty to protest the arrests of haredi evaders and said he wakes up in the middle of the night fearing that the sector is not protesting enough. He also described contacts he held with senior security officials about creating special frameworks for haredim, including the Hasmonean Brigade, and said army officials asked him to spread a positive word about the project.
According to Maya, he demanded that any arrangement be anchored in IDF General Staff orders and supervised by rabbis with authority on the ground. He said those conditions were rejected by the General Staff. “The deputy head of the Personnel Directorate moved in my direction, but the General Staff decided to refuse and did not want, under any circumstances, to accept that condition,” he said.
Maya then argued that because the talks failed, young haredi men are currently forbidden from enlisting in the IDF, including those who do not study in yeshivas. “As long as we do not have the Messiah, it is forbidden to enlist,” he said, adding that students should follow the lawyers guiding them and not fear the Military Police.
