Then Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf in an interview with Kikar Hashabbat about Judicial Reform in September 2023 (video snippet - kikar hashabbat)
Yitzhak Goldknopf speaking to Kikar Hashabbat in 2023 (video snippet)

Ultimatum: Goldknopf Says Haredim Will Leave Israel Before Defending It

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Politics

In a stunning ultimatum that has sparked national outrage and disbelief, United Torah Judaism (UTJ) chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf issued a thinly veiled threat to the State of Israel: If the Haredim are forced to serve in the IDF, they will pack their bags and leave the Jewish state.

Yes, you read that right — the leader of a political faction that has enjoyed decades of state-funded insulation from military duty is now openly musing about abandoning Israel rather than participating in its defense.

"If there is no choice and they must leave the country, they will leave," Goldknopf declared in an interview with Makor Rishon. "The country will be without Haredim."

A Declaration of Separation

Goldknopf's defiant comments come amid High Court deliberations over the controversial draft exemption for ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students — an issue that has ignited fiery debates as Israeli families continue to bury sons and fathers fallen in the war against Hamas and Hezbollah.

The chairman made it abundantly clear: “The Haredim will not change their way of life because there is an army and a war.”
According to Goldknopf, if Israel needs 50,000 new soldiers, the government should look not to the protected enclaves of Bnei Brak or Mea Shearim, but to Tel Aviv.

“There are 100,000 avoiding service in Tel Aviv, in the Dan region,” he claimed — echoing a tired and widely debunked talking point.

This incendiary accusation drew a swift and impassioned rebuke from Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, who denounced Goldknopf’s remarks as a “disgusting lie.”

“Since the start of the war, there have been 29 fallen soldiers from Tel Aviv,” Lapid stated, “I invite Goldknopf to join me on Memorial Day to read the names of the dead in my neighborhood. Maybe there, he will learn to be ashamed.”

Cold to Sacrifice, Deaf to Pain

Perhaps most galling was Goldknopf’s heartless dismissal of the emotional toll borne by Israeli reservists and their families. When asked whether he understood the pain of a father called up to reserves who must now leave his children and home, he responded coldly:

“I don’t understand. I didn’t decide that he had to leave. If he decided that this was his path, then he’s leaving.”

That statement landed like a slap in the face to tens of thousands of Israeli fathers and sons currently serving on the front lines — and to the bereaved families whose sacrifice Goldknopf refuses even to acknowledge.

And when asked about the Religious Zionist community, which has suffered a disproportionate share of IDF casualties, Goldknopf’s answer was equally callous:

“Their pain is theirs, and our pain is ours. Don’t bring me your pain.”

A Veiled Threat to the State

On the subject of yeshiva student arrests for draft refusal, Goldknopf warned of societal collapse:

“I do not suggest arresting yeshiva students. It would cause shock in Israeli society and around the world. It breaks all conventions and crosses a red line.”

Is that a warning — or a threat? Because from the outside, it sounds like a demand for national immunity, backed by the threat of religious unrest and international embarrassment.

Netanyahu in the Crosshairs

Goldknopf didn’t spare the Prime Minister either, accusing Benjamin Netanyahu of empty promises and political cowardice.

“If Netanyahu wants our support next time, he’ll need to show actions before the government is formed,” he said. “I can’t come today and say that Netanyahu promises something. Which of the rabbis would believe it?”

He added with thinly veiled contempt:

“I do not close or open doors. We are committed to our public, and whoever delivers what our public asks for will receive us. Whoever only talks—let them stay with their words.”

Editorial: Loyalty Shouldn’t Be Optional

Goldknopf’s statements mark a dramatic escalation in the long-simmering tension between the Haredi political establishment and the rest of Israeli society. At a time when Israel faces existential threats on multiple fronts, the idea that entire communities would rather flee the country than share in its defense is both morally obscene and strategically suicidal.

For decades, Israel has tolerated a status quo in which one population sends its sons to the battlefield, while another sends theirs to subsidized study halls. The war has shattered that fragile equilibrium. The national blood debt is no longer theoretical. It is being paid in real time, in real lives — from Sderot to the Golan, and yes, even in Tel Aviv.

If you enjoy the fruits of a Jewish state, you should be prepared to defend it. Anything less is not piety — it’s parasitism.

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