Rivalry Flares Between Haredi Parties and Ben-Gvir Over Draft Evasion Arrests

The dispute erupted after Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef publicly blamed Ben-Gvir on Wednesday for the arrests, claiming they were a politically motivated move to incite unrest and drive yeshiva students to vote for Otzma Yehudit. Degel HaTorah chairman Yaakov Asher also appealed to Ben-Gvir to halt the arrests, accusing the Attorney General of using the police under Ben-Gvir's command as a political tool to create division during the election period.

In an open letter on Thursday, Ben-Gvir rejected the accusations, calling them a cynical political maneuver to distract from the Haredi parties' own failures on the draft, budget cuts, and daycare subsidies. Ben-Gvir asserted that he has no influence over the arrests, which he stated were ordered by the Attorney General and the High Court of Justice.

Ben-Gvir further claimed that senior Haredi party officials recently approached him to coordinate political campaigns and requested that he not target voters of Shas and United Torah Judaism, a request he said he agreed to. He also criticized Haredi representatives for opposing the dismissal of the Attorney General and for boycotting a vote on separate studies for seminary students.