Haredi draft dodgers subjected to 'Holocaust' treatment, ultra-Orthodox Knesset candidate claims

Eliakim Stark, a candidate for the haredi United Torah Judaism party, made a statement on Thursday night likening the status of haredi IDF draft evaders to Jews during the Holocaust in Europe."Our situation is close to what it was in the Holocaust," Stark said. "And there's no other way to say it."הח״כ המיועד אליקים שטארק: ״המצב שלנו קרוב למה שהיה בשואה״ https://t.co/fVWwAgFaM1— אבי מוסקוב Avi moskoff (@AviMoskov) October 15, 2026"I don't blame anyone," he continued. "But the solution will only come if we work together."Stark is a prominent member of the Belz Hasidic community; he was chosen to replace long-serving MK Yisrael Eichler as the community's Knesset representative in 2026. He holds the number 6 slot on the UTJ list.Draft evasion arrests spike, protests crop up in responseIn recent months, the Israeli security establishment has ramped up arrests for haredi draft evaders, that is, ultra-Orthodox men who refuse mandatory IDF service based on religious observance and do not receive official service exemptions from the IDF.In response to the arrests, haredi groups have organized multiple protests throughout Jerusalem and central Israel, and the haredi IDF draft has become a central issue in the 2026 Knesset election campaigns. The IDF has repeatedly warned of an urgent manpower shortage after three years of war. In March, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir said the IDF could soon collapse if no solution was found for the manpower shortage.Politicians, Knesset candidates respond to Stark's commentsFormer prime minister and Yesh Atid party chairman Yair Lapid responded to Stark's statements on social media, noting that his father was a Holocaust survivor and "[does] not recall the IDF being there.""There's one thing that guarantees there will never be another Holocaust, [it's] a strong and proud Jewish army," Lapid continued. "The same army you're encouraging desertion from."Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman also reacted to the statement, tying it directly to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the upcoming Knesset elections. "A representative of the United Torah Judaism party, without which Netanyahu has no [coalition majority], explains that in the state of Israel it is 'better to be a terrorist'!" Liberman wrote."On October 27, we decide: It's either us or the draft dodgers." Ofer Winter's People of Israel party also reportedly responded, calling Stark's remarks "shocking" and "a disgrace to every Israeli and every Jew, all the more so for someone who is poised to serve in the Knesset of Israel.""This did not occur in a vacuum," the statement continued, "rather, it follows the silence of the prime minister and senior government officials in the face of the appalling calls against the IDF heard during [haredi] demonstrations."Keshet Neev contributed to this report.