"I Won't Let Them Destroy the World of Torah" – Powerful Speech by Likud's Milwidsky
As public discourse in Israel heats up over the military draft and anti-Haredi sentiment reaches unsettling extremes, one Knesset member dared to push back—passionately, courageously, and unexpectedly.
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In a stirring speech delivered Thursday from the Knesset podium, Likud MK Hanoch Milwidsky stood tall in defense of the ultra-Orthodox community, speaking not as one of them, but as a secular Jew who believes deeply in Jewish tradition and identity. “I'm not Haredi,” he said plainly. “I don’t belong to that sector, and I have no personal interest. But as a Jew—I will not allow the destruction of the world of Torah.”
His voice trembled at times, not from fear but from conviction. Milwidsky directed fierce criticism at center-left parties, accusing them of waging an ideological war meant to dismantle the spiritual foundations of the Jewish people. He condemned proposals that, in his words, aim to "weaken the base of the nation of Israel," and called out specific figures like Labor MK Gilad Kariv and party head Yair Golan for what he described as hostile agendas toward Haredi education and values.
The speech was not without fire. “Talking about shutting down Haredi schools to reduce the number of Haredim - there’s no other word for this but madness,” he said. “And these people claim to speak in the name of progress? Of enlightenment? This is total moral confusion.”
Milwidsky didn’t spare criticism from the center or secular right either. He expressed deep concern that parties like Yisrael Beiteinu, Yesh Atid, and the National Unity party might align with anti-religious platforms for political convenience. “How can you stand with this? How do your knees not shake? How do you not fear turning your backs on what kept us alive for thousands of years?”
And that, he stressed, was the heart of the matter. For Milwidsky, the debate was never truly about military service. “Yes, we need soldiers,” he acknowledged. “But no soldier will save us if we destroy what truly holds us together. And that is not some Western invention born 200 years ago. It’s Torah. It’s Judaism.”
He ended with a heartfelt plea, his voice quiet but firm: “Don’t harm our tradition. Don’t harm our Torah. Not out of coercion - but out of the understanding that this is who we are. Without it, we have no army, no people, and no future.”
In a time of fierce division and often shallow debate, Milwidsky’s words reminded many Israelis - religious and secular alike - of the deeper truths that bind them. His message resonated not because it was popular, but because it was honest. And that, perhaps, is what made it so powerful.