Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu berated Itche Dzalovsky, the operator of an ultra-Orthodox information hotline, on Tuesday evening. In a recorded phone call, Netanyahu can be heard demanding to know whether ultra-Orthodox Jews were going out to vote. "What's happening with the Haredim?" the prime minister asked.
Dzalovsky replied: "What's happening is that they're very angry that, to this day, all the promises about conscription and the ultra-Orthodox community..." Netanyahu interrupted him, shouting: "Tell me, are they crazy? Do they want a left-wing government? Are they crazy? We'll die."
Netanyahu's furious election night call
Dzalovsky, a member of the Ger Hasidic community, tried to explain: "They want a government that will deliver on what it has repeatedly promised." Netanyahu continued shouting angrily: "Do they want to die? They want to destroy the Torah world, and they're not coming out? That's what I want to know." The ultra-Orthodox activist replied: "They want ultra-Orthodox Jews to be able to observe the Torah and its commandments to the depths of their souls, without having their religion trampled."
The prime minister continued: "So, in short, they're not coming out to vote. That's what I'm asking. They're not coming out. Is that the point?" Dzalovsky replied: "They want to come out, but after seeing those promises honored over time." Netanyahu responded: "What do you mean, promises being honored? In another hour and a half, they're going to establish a government of Mansour Abbas, who says he's going to destroy the Torah world." Netanyahu was referring to the leader of the Arab Islamist Ra'am party.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and ultra-Orthodox activist Itche Dzalovsky
(Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Pool Photo via AP)
"But they've had four years of promises being broken consistently," Dzalovsky said. Netanyahu replied: "Fine, but that's not the question right now. Are they going out to vote or not? That's what I'm asking."
The ultra-Orthodox activist responded: "They're not convinced there's anyone who will keep his word."
"What? What?" Netanyahu asked.
"They're not convinced there's anyone who will keep his word," Dzalovsky repeated.
"So that means they're not going out. That's what you're telling me," Netanyahu replied.
The information hotline operator continued along the same lines: "I get the impression that it's very difficult to convince people who received promises that weren't kept."
The prime minister asked: "So they're not going out, okay. Is there anything we can do about it now, with an hour and a half left?"
Dzalovsky replied: "I think if you call and promise to provide guarantees to the leading rabbis, members of the Council of Torah Sages and other rabbinic authorities..."
Netanyahu interrupted: "I'm going to give them guarantees now, with an hour and a half left, tell me?"
"What hasn't been done for four years is certainly very difficult to do now," Dzalovsky replied.
At the end of the call, Netanyahu made one final attempt to appeal to the ultra-Orthodox activist: "So, in short, you're telling me there's nothing to be done, right?"
"That's what I think. I think it's really, really impossible," Dzalovsky answered.
"Thank you, Itche. Goodbye," Netanyahu said.