Shas leader Arye Deri claimed that the IDF "doesn't want haredi (ultra-Orthodox) soldiers" and prefers a secular army, during a podcast interview on Thursday.
"The army doesn't want haredi soldiers, get that into your head," said Deri, adding that the idea of ultra-Orthodox soldiers gives the IDF "a very big headache."
Deri added that he doesn't need to call on haredim to enlist, saying he will "let the army deal with it."
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett, chairman of the Together party, responded to Deri's comments later on Thursday, saying that the Shas chairman is "harming IDF soldiers."
"Aryeh Deri cannot sit in one more government in Israel," said Bennet. "The IDF is desperate for soldiers, and Deri is lying and making excuses."
"Those who are not partners in defending the country will not decide on its security matters," he added.
Bennett: Netanyahu 'spreading blood libels about IDF commanders'
Bennett further claimed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is "spreading blood libels about IDF commanders," following earlier comments by Netanyahu that the IDF avoided waking him up on the morning of the October 7 Hamas attacks.
"They were afraid that if they woke the prime minister, I would activate the air force, and I would wake the entire IDF, and I would not let anyone get close to the fences - because we would kill them immediately," Netanyahu claimed. "If they had woken me, everything would have looked different."