By: JNS Staff

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commended Contraction and Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf for disavowing a song against IDF military service that was played at his nephew’s wedding on Sunday night.

“Minister Goldknopf did well to distance himself from the song that was played at the event he attended and even expressed regret about it,” the Prime Minister’s Office stated after video footage surfaced of the ultra-Orthodox minister dancing to lyrics of “We’d rather die than enlist.”

In the viral video clip, Goldknopf can be seen in the middle of a circle of young haredi men singing that they “don’t believe in the government of infidels” and “will not show up at their [military] recruitment offices.”

Netanyahu stated, “There is no place for songs against IDF service. This is the time to unite our forces against our external enemies.”

In an initial apology, Goldknopf, who heads the United Torah Judaism Party, said that “during dancing, the music changed to a song with which, to put it mildly, I am not comfortable. In order not to offend the groom and his family, I remained in place.” He added, “There are those who have exploited this to incite, as if I agree with the song’s content.

“So here it is: I renounce and condemn,” he said.

Amid mounting criticism from fellow coalition lawmakers, Goldknopf issued a second apology, writing in a statement posted to social media that “in the heat of the dance and the music, I failed to set boundaries.

“As someone who helps [IDF] reservists, who is concerned for the safety of the troops and who prays for their success, I apologize. I had a responsibility to silence the band, and I will act accordingly in the future,” he said. “I deeply understand those who have been pained and apologize.”

The UTJ leader’s public mea culpa came after Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionism Party) urged Netanyahu to “summon him for clarification this evening, set a red line for and put an end to his disgraceful conduct.

“We can no longer remain silent amid the indifference, disrespect and ingratitude of Minister Goldknopf toward the State of Israel and the brave IDF soldiers,” said the Religious Zionism chief in a statement.

Fellow Religious Zionism lawmakers Ohad Tal and Ofir Sofer had called for Goldknopf’s immediate dismissal, with the latter saying that “anyone who is unable to clearly condemn such a disgraceful act cannot be part of the leadership of the nation during its most difficult time.”

United Torah Judaism provides a total of seven Knesset seats out of Netanyahu’s 68-member coalition government.

Late last week, Amichai Chikli, Israel’s minister for Diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism, slammed Goldknopf over comments in which he seemed to boast about repurposing new housing projects near Jerusalem intended for the general public to his ultra-Orthodox voter base.

“What they thought would go to the general public, we found some way to allocate to the haredi public instead. But not everything can be talked about in the open,” Goldknopf said during a conference on March 19.

Chikli commented, “It is impossible to justify continued partnership with a housing minister who is indifferent to Israeli citizens, who does not care about reservists.”