Hagai Lober Blasts Smotrich Over Suspension of MK Moshe Solomon

After party leader and minister Bezalel Smotrich imposed harsh sanctions on MK Moshe Solomon and suspended him from all Knesset committees for voting against the coalition on the Basic Law on Torah study, criticism has also emerged from within the camp. Hagai Lober, founder of the Askelaria theater and father of Jonathan, who was killed in Gaza, published a public post backing Solomon and attacking the party leadership.

Lober wrote that he voted for Solomon when he cast a ballot for Religious Zionism, saying, "I voted for honesty, truth and public courage." He added, "I did not know this when I put the Religious Zionism ballot in the box, but it turns out I voted for you. I voted for honesty, truth, public courage, and standing up to pressure, and you represent all of these."

He argued that he had supported the party to advance Religious Zionist values, not to let what he described as an exemption bill pass under the guise of a Basic Law on Torah study. "And you, with determination and sacrifice, did exactly that," he wrote. Lober then tied Solomon’s suspension to his own political support, saying, "Now Moshe, you are suspended from all the committees. And you are not alone."

In the sharpest line of his post, Lober warned Smotrich and the party that his vote may be withdrawn in the next election. "Your ballot and that of many like me are suspended too, and who knows if it will return to the ballot box again in the coming elections," he wrote. He ended by urging other Religious Zionism MKs not to retreat on the conscription issue and not to support a law that speaks grandly about Torah while ignoring military service obligations.