Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused opposition leaders of hypocrisy over the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) draft issue on Tuesday, claiming they had abandoned years of criticism of the haredi sector in an attempt to secure the parties' support for forming the next government.
Netanyahu accused Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot, B'Yachad chairman Naftali Bennett, Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid, and Yisrael Beytenu's Avigdor Liberman of courting haredi parties despite their previous opposition to legislation they said would give haredim a blanket exemption from military service.
His comments came as Likud separately attacked the opposition bloc, accusing its leaders of seeking to form a "dangerous government relying on terror supporters" and claiming the Arab parties were unwilling to label Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations.
In a statement addressing criticism of his position on the haredi draft law, Netanyahu said: "For four years, we saw unbridled attacks on the haredi sector, morning and evening, by the media and the left-wing bloc."
Netanyahu blames narrative engineering, hypocrisy of the left
"The hypocrisy we are seeing now cries out to the heavens. Suddenly it is no longer an 'evasion law', but a 'soft draft law'; suddenly they are no longer 'parasites', 'draft dodgers', or 'destroyers of the state', but are given a clean slate, all for the left's lust for power, while violating all of their election commitments."
He continued, saying, "The Likud and the right-wing bloc are the only ones who have acted and will act to regulate the status of Torah students so that anyone who studies Torah can continue to study Torah according to the law.
"In the face of narrative engineering, we insisted on creating a real solution, by consensus and in cooperation with haredi leaders and elected officials, and ensuring that anyone who does not study Torah in a yeshiva will enlist in the IDF, enter as haredi and leave as haredi. We will act to complete this important task."
Shas to recommend Netanyahu for PM as talks drag on
Following Netanyahu's statement, the Sephardi haredi Shas party announced that it would recommend him to President Isaac Herzog to form the next government as prime minister.
"The hypocrisy of the left-wing parties cries out to the heavens, after they led an unprecedented campaign of vilification, defamation, and persecution against the haredi sector and Torah students, who are the bedrock of the existence of the Jewish people," the party said in its statement.