Welfare Minister Ya’akov Margi slammed the politicization of the recruitment of Chareidim in a fiery speech at the Sderot Conference for Society and Education in Be’er Sheva on Tuesday. “I served in the army, my two children served in the army, and my eldest son has been in continuous reserve duty since October 7th,” Margi said, adding that lawmakers are cynically using the issue of Chareidi enlistment for political purposes. “It’s possible to resolve this crisis if you remove the political slant from the equation. Don’t buy tall tales, don’t buy headlines and slogans.” “Those who oppose the law don’t really want to enlist Chareidim. They want the crisis, the argument, they want to tear Israeli society apart – as if we aren’t divided enough.” “If they really want to solve it, it’s possible. After all, today there is no law, are Chareidim being enlisted? Almost not! If there is a law, Chareidim will enlist.” Margi added that the IDF itself has no interest in integrating the Chareidim and sabotaged programs created for that purpose in the past. “My son enlisted in a Chareidi track. I accompanied all the tracks that were established in the previous decade, and there were many of them. Who got rid of them? The IDF. They didn’t want it, it was a headache for them.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)