Haredi Knesset Candidate Compares Draft Evaders' Travel Restrictions to
Holocaust
16 October 2026

Elikim Stark, a United Torah Judaism Knesset candidate representing the Belz
Hasidic community, compared the situation of Haredi draft evaders subject to
travel restrictions to the Holocaust, according to a report by Shilo Fried
published by Ynet on 15 October 2026.

Speaking at an election campaign gathering in Beit Shemesh on Thursday
evening, Stark complained that Haredi men barred from leaving Israel because
of military draft orders cannot travel abroad to pursue potential marriage
matches (shidduchim), forcing the families of prospective brides overseas to
travel to Israel instead.

"When people want to arrange a marriage match abroad, they have to come here
because [we] cannot [leave the country]," Stark said, according to Ynet.

"I had resolved not to speak about Holocaust stories in the early years, but
I have no other way to describe it," he continued.

"Our situation is close to what it was during the Holocaust. It reminds me
of stories from our grandparents."

Stark, 34, recently replaced Deputy Minister Israel Eichler as the Belz
representative on the Agudat Israel electoral list, part of United Torah
Judaism. Eichler attended the gathering.

Source: Shilo Fried, Ynet, 15 October 2026, "The New Representative in
United Torah Judaism: 'Our Situation Is Close to What It Was During the
Holocaust.'"
https://www.ynet.co.il/news/article/hkmhd2cjzl

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