Lapid: Haredim must be conscripted or deprived of state funds. He added that if 66,000 Haredi youth are recruited, the army will obtain 105 new battalions necessary for Israel's security.
This position comes a day after statements by the chief rabbi of the Sephardim (Eastern Jews) in Israel regarding his rejection of military conscription in the occupation army. Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef said if the religious people were forced into military service, they would all travel abroad.