As concerns grow over reports that the IDF is preparing to arrest yeshiva students who failed to report to draft offices, the Rishon L’Tzion, Rav Yitzchak Yosef, issued a powerful warning: if such a crackdown is carried out, the chareidi public will have no choice but to leave Eretz Yisrael.
Speaking at an event in Bnei Brak, Rav Yosef said, “If they force us to go to the army—if they come into yeshivos and arrest bochurim—we have no right to remain here. We will all leave for abroad. We will not stay here.”
He continued, “If we can’t learn Torah in Eretz Yisrael—if such a decree is enacted, may Hashem have mercy that it should never come—we won’t remain in this land. There is no right to live in Eretz Yisrael if there is no Torah. Torah is above all. Our Torah protects the soldiers.”
Citing the recent wave of attacks on Israel, Rav Yosef said, “They fired 35,000 rockets at us—so many rockets—and baruch Hashem, most of them were intercepted, whether by Iron Dome or Arrow. How are they successful? It’s because of your Torah.”
Addressing secular officials in government, he added, “If they actually believed in this—those secular leaders sitting in the government—if they believed in the power of Torah, they would strengthen Torah learning. There are 200,000 yeshiva bochurim? That’s not enough! Double it, triple it! But they don’t understand… nebach.”
Rav Yosef also referenced past legal battles during his tenure as Chief Rabbi of Israel, when he made similar statements about leaving the country should Torah study be curtailed. “They filed a High Court petition against me for saying that,” he recounted. “A left-wing party leader in the Knesset submitted the petition. The court wanted a response—how could I say people should leave the country? I was in an official position at the time. I didn’t answer. Do I owe them anything? I didn’t respond at all. They saw I wasn’t replying and said, ‘he’ll be out of office soon anyway,’ and they gave up.”
Rav Yosef concluded with a call for clarity and courage. “There’s no need to be afraid. We must speak the truth: it’s the Torah that protects us.”

{Matzav.com Israel}