While politicians in the election campaign have been calling on the haredi public to “share the burden” and serve in the IDF, Rabbi David Yosef, one of the sons of the late Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and a member of the Shas rabbinical committee, said Saturday night that religious Jews were thus carrying two burdens – that of serving in the army of defense of Israel, and that of serving in the “army of G-d.”

“They want us to share the burden,” he told listeners at a lecture Saturday night. “Where is this sharing of the burden? Why are we the only ones who must carry the burden of the Jewish people, of the holy Torah and the commandments?”

Continuing on that theme, Rabbi Yosef continued on to the next portion of his talk. “Anyone who does not observe the commandments is endangering our existence in the Land of Israel more than the Arabs.

“The Torah says that we must observe the commandments, lest the land ‘spit us out as it spit out the nations before you.’ Without Judaism, what do we have here? What are we doing here? G-d can chase us out of here, G-d forbid.”