"…You accuse me of incitement? Your [haredi] media compares all secular
women to prostitutes and all secular youths to drug addicts and
hedonists. And that's before we discuss the recent editorial in [the
Ashkenazi haredi newspaper] Yated Ne'eman that compared me to Hitler. Does
telling the haredi public that I want the exact same rights for them as
I do for my own son constitute harassment? Does expecting them to honor
the fourth commandment constitute harassment? It says, 'Six days you
shall labor and do all your work,’ not 'six days you shall receive
government stipends and the secular people shall labor.'…"
File photo: Finance Minister Yair Lapid
Finance Minister Yair Lapid spoke on behalf of the governing coalition in response to those no-confidence motions, focusing primarily on the one titled, "The finance minister's incitement and harassment against the haredi public in efforts to divert attention from the austerity measures imposed on the general public, thus promoting extremism among the people,” which was submitted by the Ashkenazi haredi Untied Torah Judaism Party.
Here is part of what Lapid said as quoted by Israel HaYom:
"You accuse me of incitement? Your [haredi] media compares all secular women to prostitutes and all secular youths to drug addicts and hedonists. And that's before we discuss the recent editorial in [the Ashkenazi haredi newspaper] Yated Ne'eman that compared me to Hitler.
"Does telling the haredi public that I want the exact same rights for them as I do for my own son constitute harassment? Does expecting them to honor the fourth commandment constitute harassment? It says, 'Six days you shall labor and do all your work,’ not 'six days you shall receive government stipends and the secular people shall labor.'
"We are not the Messiah's donkey. That is what we have been for too long. It won't bring the Messiah. It will keep the Messiah away. Anyone who accuses others of incitement is merely adding to the hatred in Israel, and adding to hatred keeps the Messiah away."
Lapid also addressed haredi claims that the government cuts in haredi yeshiva subsidies was anti-Torah:
"We believe that the cuts to the yeshiva budget will not harm the Torah world. It will only mean that people will go to work in the morning and study Torah at night, just like our forefathers. If you want to help the poor, help them join the workforce. You want to help the people of Israel? Stop the incitement and the harassment. No one hates anyone and no one is out to get anyone."