Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro has weighed into the uproar surrounding Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s latest comments on Chareidi military service, blasting those who portrayed Netanyahu’s remarks as a threat to punish people for failing to study Torah while also declaring his own opposition to the longstanding Chareidi draft exemption.
Netanyahu reignited Israel’s fiercely contested draft debate when he said that those who are not learning Torah should serve in the IDF and that those refusing to do so should face imprisonment. His comments come amid an ongoing political and legal battle over the status of yeshiva students and military service, with tens of thousands of Chareidi men currently subject to conscription following the expiration of the previous legal framework for exemptions.
Shapiro responded on X after Netanyahu’s remarks generated criticism and what he claimed were wildly inaccurate interpretations online.
“Okay, you illiterate… Netanyahu is not arguing, contra RetardoX, that you will be punished for not studying Torah in Israel or elsewhere. He’s specifically addressing the #1 public issue in Israel: the draft exemption for Haredim (the ultra-Orthodox).”
Shapiro then offered his own sharply critical description of the origins of the arrangement that allowed yeshiva students to avoid military service.
“The yeshiva exemption is an vestigial structure, an evolutionary hangover from a deal cut at the foundation of the state between the Haredim and the government.”
The exemption has, in fact, been at the center of a years-long legal and political confrontation in Israel. In June 2024, Israel’s High Court ruled that there was no longer a legal basis for the longstanding blanket exemption, setting off efforts by Chareidi parties and Netanyahu’s government to establish a new statutory framework protecting yeshiva students from conscription.
Shapiro made clear that he does not merely believe Netanyahu’s remarks were misunderstood. He also personally sides with those who believe the broader Chareidi exemption should be abolished.
“Today, many Haredi leaders argue that no Haredi should EVER serve in the army, whether they’re learning Torah or not. Most people who aren’t Haredi think that exemption should disappear entirely (for the record, I think that position is correct).”
Shapiro characterized Netanyahu’s position as more limited, saying that the prime minister is seeking to distinguish between those genuinely engaged in full-time Torah study and those using yeshiva status to avoid military service without actually learning.
“Netanyahu is proposing a compromise position. Under current law, in Israel, you can apply for exemption from the military draft as a yeshiva student. Many of those who do so are not in fact learning Torah. They are welfare queens avoiding service. He’s proposing that if you are not even studying Torah, there’s certainly no excuse for the yeshiva exemption for you.”
Netanyahu has recently signaled that he still supports preserving exemptions for genuine full-time yeshiva students while taking a harder line toward those who are not learning. His government’s efforts to legislate the issue have repeatedly run into political and judicial obstacles, while Chareidi parties have continued demanding legal protection for yeshiva students.
Shapiro concluded his post by insisting that Netanyahu’s remarks concerned Israel’s unique military-service dispute and had no connection whatsoever to American politics or any supposed effort to compel Torah study.
“This has literally nothing to do with American politics. It is certainly NOT a mandate that you MUST learn Torah or you’ll be punished with the draft or jail. You have to be a complete moron to believe any of that. But then again, RetardoX is filled with complete morons.”
{Matzav.com}
