Itamar Eitam Calls for Haredi Draft Changes Through Cooperation

Itamar Eitam, the newly appointed chairman of the Religious Zionism parliamentary faction, said Tuesday morning that changes to Haredi military service should be pursued through cooperation. He spoke at the Knesset in Jerusalem ahead of his first declaration of allegiance as a member of the 26th Knesset. Asked about working with the Haredi parties amid the draft-law dispute, Eitam said the previous situation would have to change. “What was will not be what will be; changes will have to happen…” he said. He argued that hatred, fear and campaigns of incitement, which he described as false, would not bring about those changes. He called for working together and cooperating, saying there was substantial practical work to do beyond election campaigning. Eitam, a reserve lieutenant colonel appointed faction chairman this week, described entering parliament as an emotional occasion. He linked the declaration of allegiance to Jewish independence, the Jewish people’s return to their land and Jerusalem, and their freedom to choose their leaders. Referring to the 88th anniversary of Kristallnacht, he contrasted the suffering of Jews then with Jewish sovereignty and freedom today.