Smotrich: Election may put Hesder yeshiva funding at risk

More than 50 heads of hesder yeshivas from across Israel gathered at the Ramada Hotel in Jerusalem over the weekend for the annual conference of the Hesder Yeshiva Association. Among those attending were Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Jewish National Fund-KKL Chairman Eyal Ostrinsky. Addressing the approaching elections and the tense political climate, Smotrich warned that religious institutions and settlement projects should not assume they would be protected from a change of government. "Anyone who thinks that the settlement enterprise, the farms in Judea and Samaria, hesder yeshivas and pre-military preparatory academies are immune to a political shift should remember what we have already seen in the past," Smotrich said. "What has been built through decades of hard work can be destroyed with a single decision by one government." Smotrich cited the previous government, which he said had tried to cut funding for hesder yeshivas, as well as what he described as a policy of a complete freeze on construction during Merav Michaeli's tenure as transportation minister. He also pointed to renewed calls for far-reaching measures, including closing right-wing media outlets, dismissing senior security officials such as David Zini and Roman Gofman, and freezing construction in Judea and Samaria. Smotrich further criticized the continued discussion of establishing a Palestinian state after the October 7 massacre, attributing support for the idea to Yair Golan and Gadi Eisenkot. "If, God forbid, an Eisenkot-Abbas government is formed, what we have worked for over the years will be destroyed in a single day," he warned. During the conference, the Hesder Yeshiva Association recognized the contributions of Smotrich and Ostrinsky to the hesder yeshiva movement and religious Zionism. Particular appreciation was expressed for KKL's ongoing assistance with construction and renovation projects at dozens of yeshivas across Israel. The two men received a special gift: a mezuzah case made from basalt collected in the Golan Heights during the laying of the foundation for the first building constructed with KKL support for the hesder yeshiva network.