United Torah Judaism chairman Yitzchak Goldknopf came under heavy fire after appearing to draw a parallel between imprisoned bnei yeshiva and the Israeli hostages held by Hamas. The controversy erupted following a letter he sent to Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu.
In his letter, Goldknopf praised the progress being made toward a hostage release deal but said he wished “to take the opportunity” to remind Netanyahu of the bnei Torah currently jailed in Israel “during these holy holidays,” imprisoned for what he called “the crime of Torah learning.”
“I request that you act immediately to release them from prison, still during these holidays, so they can celebrate with their family members during Sukkos,” Goldknopf wrote.
The comments come amid an intensifying national debate over the chareidi draft issue.
Goldknopf’s letter immediately provoked sharp backlash from across the political spectrum, with critics condemning the perceived comparison between the jailed bnei yeshiva and the hostages in Gaza.
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett blasted the statement, calling it “simply disgraceful.” He denounced what he described as the government’s “dark alliance of [Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich-Netanyahu-Goldknopf, which is currently educating hundreds of thousands of children with the same distorted anti-Zionist worldview.”
“Very soon, we will replace this group, this government of failure and decay, and open a new and wonderful chapter for the people of Israel,” Bennett added, referencing his party “Bennett 2026,” which plans to run in the next elections.
Gadi Eisenkot, former IDF chief of staff and head of the Yashar! Party, also condemned Goldknopf’s comments, describing them as “a manifestation of what will no longer happen in a renewed, decent Israel.”
He added that Goldknopf should “disappear from our public life and be replaced by young men and women, servants of this nation, who are committed to it and worthy of it.”
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) was equally scathing, saying, “Goldknopf and his whole bunch have lost their minds.”
“The hostages are dying, while he [Goldknopf] and his chareidi draft-dodging followers are a group of spoiled privileged people who somehow think they have the right to evade military service, while the IDF fights to protect their lives, cushioned by government budgets,” Lapid charged.
The newly established Reservists Party, founded by reserve soldiers advocating for universal conscription, also issued a strong rebuke.
“Instead of issuing a letter of gratitude to the tens of thousands of reservists who will once again spend the Sukkos holiday guarding the country’s borders, so that you and your draft-dodging friends can celebrate, you ask the prime minister to release the ‘prisoners of the world of Torah’ so they can celebrate at home,” the party said in a statement.
“These are fateful days for the State of Israel, and you and your colleagues are doing everything possible to prevent the enlistment of the chareidim, to avoid easing the burden on reservists, and to strengthen draft dodgers, criminals who break the law,” the statement continued.
Even when I was reading the original letter I was thinking how could he possibly be expecting a response different from this? And to be clear I am passionate and vehemently against drafting Yeshiva bochurim r’l
Not exciting the stupidity. But he never compared them to the hostages. I read the letter. He said that if you are letting dangerous terrorists out of jail ,then maybe you should also release yeshiva talmidim whose only crime was learning Torah. It’s stupid to write that publicly but the comparison was to the terrorists with blood on their hands ,not the hostages. But why would a leftist care about the truth .
He didn’t compare Hamas hostages to yeshiva students. Why don’t you post the letter so people can see for themselves what he wrote.
Instead you quote all these disgusting comments from these despicable Israeli politicians.
He should be fired period. He adds no prestige to the current government. Menachem Porush Obama is gone. Goldknopf ain’t no match-up.
He’s already out of the government. He resigned from the Knesset last year.
That’s not what he was saying. He was comparing imprisoned Yeshiva boys to the terrorists being freed…
Let’s see why the hostages were kidnapped And why yeshiva boys are in prison. The hostages basically had a music and drug festival on Yom tov simchas Torah with a big Buddha in the center. Yeshiva boys are guilty for learning Torah. How can you compare the two.