Eisenkot Backs Torah Exemption Cap and Rejects Chareidi Vote-Stripping

Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot, the former IDF chief of staff, said in a Wednesday interview that he backs a Ben-Gurionist policy exempting 3 percent of each annual recruitment cohort, roughly 4,300 to 4,700 outstanding Torah scholars, from IDF service. He called zero-exemption demands populist and not serious, and said stripping Chareidim of voting rights is off limits as a basic democratic right rather than a sanction. Eisenkot described Shas as a Zionist party and potential coalition partner if it accepts three principles: a Jewish democratic state, Declaration of Independence values and mandatory service for Chareidim and Arabs. He cited his mother, who voted Shas for 30 years, as evidence the party's voters include those who serve in the army.