Avigdor Lieberman, head of the Yisrael Beytenu party and longtime antagonist of lomdei torah, has openly called on police to prosecute the gedolim for allegedly “encouraging draft evasion.” His accusations, laced with contempt, were directed at none other than the Rosh Yeshiva of Slabodka and leader of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah, Hagaon HaRav Dov Landau shlit”a, as well as the former Rishon LeTzion, Harav Yitzchak Yosef shlit”a.
Lieberman, no stranger to anti-chareidi rhetoric, claimed that Rav Landau had “ordered bochurim not to report to recruitment offices,” and that Rav Yosef had made remarks about discarding draft notices. In a social media post, he expressed outrage over the continued refusal of yeshiva bochurim to join the IDF, and demanded that law enforcement prosecute those who “incite” others to reject the draft during wartime, a move which he says is punishable by 15 years imprisonment.
Knesset member Yaakov Asher (UTJ) responded sharply, mocking Lieberman’s Soviet roots. “If the Israel Police are having difficulty, perhaps the KGB could lend a hand,” he quipped. Other chareidi representatives remained silent, with one insider telling the press, “We refuse to fan the flames of Lieberman’s sinas haTorah.”
Just days ago, Rav Landau issued a clear psak on the front page of Yated Neeman, reaffirming the Torah world’s stance: no yeshiva bochur should cooperate with the army. Bochurim were instructed not to speak with IDF representatives, not to respond to summons, and to contact the Vaad HaYeshivos or the newly established “Lema’ancha” hotline for guidance. Those deemed “deserters” were told to avoid contact with authorities at all costs.
This was not Rav Landau’s first public stand. In a speech reported in Kikar HaShabbat, the Rosh Yeshiva made it clear that Torah learning is the true protection of Klal Yisrael and criticized modern distortions of Torah hashkafah, which he said had led to spiritual and even physical casualties.
Meanwhile, Rav Yitzchak Yosef has previously warned that if the government removes draft exemptions for lomdei Torah, the chareidi tzibbur may be forced to leave Eretz Yisrael en masse. “If you force us into the army, we’ll go to chutz la’aretz,” he said at the time.
According to newly released IDF statistics, of the 10,000 draft notices sent to chareidim since last summer, only 205 have responded by enlisting—just over 2%. Over 1,000 arrest warrants have been issued for noncompliance, but military police have yet to enforce them.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
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35 Responses
Meanwhile, Rav Yitzchak Yosef has previously warned … “If you force us into the army, we’ll go to chutz la’aretz,” he said at the time.
Perhaps the United States or Poland?
No.one cares what the Russian amalek has to say! Whoever speaks against a gadol will pay the ultimate price and the Torah is not disposable for his shmad army! The way they treat the soldiers is so terrible that I can’t understand why anyone would want to go even if they’re not religious. They let you die instead of the terrorists families that they’re so scared to kill accidentally. We should serve them? God forbid. Whoever worships the army all those charedi hating “dati leumis’ that have no in fear in them to belittle the biggest rabbis on Earth, how dare they call themselves religious. Stop kissing up to the lefties they hate you also
How would 66,000 bnei yeshivos eligible for the draft be relocated to chutz l’aretz? Maran Rosh Yeshivas Slabodka is obviously aware of the expense and logistics involved in such a lofty plan. What is the plan?
I do not support what Lieberman said, but I wonder if any lawyers here could explain the basis for a law (prohibiting the encouragement of draft evasion) not being equally applicable to all citizens.
Maybe Guatemala? Or the Ukraine? or Shanghai? Any place willing to take him/them….
The MK right. It’s the law. In fact, the “rav” has the chutzpa here. In any other normal country of law & order, he would be dealt with according to….the rule of law. Why is this complex?
I actually feel terrible that so many lost members of klal Yisrael are going to be lost to these horrific ideologies! 20% left mitzrayim and 20% see mashiach. The 80 gets lost and all who call for defying gedolim and shutting the seforim are going to be in that 80! I beg of you to stop before it’s too late for you and your family. This is the time to send kollels a check! Even if all you can afford is 18$!! Just to show hashem you were on his side and the gedolim. Don’t be left behind
I’m not sure what’s shocking or how it is chutzpah. If Rabbanim in the US we’re to encourage or lead a scheme to, say, have all Bnei Yeshiva file falsified Section 8 applications, then would it be a chutzpah if the DA charged them with criminal conspiracy?
The law in Israel requires that all eligible young men serve – and those who give explicit instructions on how to violate the law are themselves in violation – regardless of titles or organizational affiliation. They are doing this knowingly, including knowing of the risk of jail (see the signs they’ve been carrying – “to jail and not to the army”) – so it’s now time to put their words to the test.
an Israeli Yid
Shlomo 2 – a lot of laws go unenforced because the police realize they don’t have the resources to enforce all of them. If they were to put someone of Rav Landau’s stature in prison they would have hundreds of thousands of demonstrators to contend with and the police know they have more important things to do with their time. While I agree with the approach of not cooperating with the army, I also think of a saying from the Brisker Rav, ztl, that whenever there are gezeiros against Torah, the underlying cause min haShamayim is that the bnei Torah need to improve in some way. For years I’ve been saying that all yeshiva bochurim should be given training in kiruv 3rechokim, perhaps this is the “national service” Hashem expects of them and it would certainly discourage the army from wanting so many trained kiruv professionals in their midst.
rofehardamah – There is a place for you too- extremely hot!!
Is the psak of R Landau that clear – applies to bnei yeshiva? Can there be a compromise – those who truly learn, stay to learn, and the draft applies to the rest – those who are not learning; those who are registered but not learning; those who can not pass a test?
Repeating my previous post on how seriously Mir Rosh Yeshiva Rav Laizer Yudel approached exemptions:
Rav Laizer Yudel, with tears in his eyes, would tell each student that asked for his signature on the statement that “Torah is his profession” the following: “I have never told a falsehood in my life. I am signing that your profession is to study Torah. Please learn diligently and commit yourself to it, so that I am not a liar.”
It’s easy for yeshiva boys to get out of the draft. Just as they refused to draft Ben Gevir because he followed kahane. Every yeshiva boy should wear on his shirt a kahane slogan with Reb Meir kahanes picture. They will not draft him
Should we give the $18 to Mosad Rav Kook or Shaalvim for their Kollel? These people served.
Its perceived as a chutzpah because we are accustomed to the “state within a state” that chareidi society has created. Logically, Leiberman is 100% right. He is encouraging 10s of thousands of people to break the law. The chareidim benefit from what they want, and refuse what they don’t. The problem is that this destroys the social cohesion and assumed responsibilities of citizens within society.
Arizona
what was klal yisraels plan when they left Egypt for the dessert? no plan their plan was lechteich acharei bamidbar beeretz lo zorua
that was to save their souls from the decadence of shaar nun so is this
An Israeli yid; “The law in Israel requires that all eligible young men serve”
Really? I don’t see the 20% of the population who are Arabs being drafted.
Exactly as uncle Ben said, IsraeliYid and all his other torah closing advocates never care that the “law” for arabs is different. Where’s equality? Why don’t you protest the public funds that they get? Because you don’t trust Arabs? So then why are they citizens with voting rights and Social Security numbers? Stop your hypocritical war against God and at least mean what you say when you say all. But it’s all besides Arabs. Also Israeli law was very clear that they’re exempt for learning all this time and it only changed a few months ago so don’t act like they are the rule Breakers when the rules changed overnight
Uncle Ben,
It’s because generally you don’t ask people to fight against their own people.
Many Arabs in Israel & the West Bank are related to each other.
If you noticed the Israeli Druze are drafted to fight while the Israeli Bedouins volunteer to fight. The bedouins aren’t drafted because they have a very similar background as the Palestinians & other Arabs in the Middle East.
Talking about chutzpah to gedolim..
If the moetzes gedolei haTorah and rav landau himself have stated openly that it is forbidden to vote in the wzo elections how can there be a pop up ad on this site- when everyone logs on, that encourages ppl to go against what they said
It is at minimum a matter of safeik issura
An Israeli Yid aka hadaat whu ha’adamah
In short… the a nation like all other nations
Doesn’t matter that it’s a nation meant for Jews.. who are a nation only due to their Torah which abhores immorality
An Israeli Yid aka hadaat whu ha’adamah
In short… theyre a nation like all other nations
Doesn’t matter that it’s a nation meant for Jews.. who are a nation only due to their Torah which abhores immorality
lakewhut, they serve and sadly they sacrifice their lives al kiddush HaShem. I give much more than $18.
rebEmes, you do not have the right to all a Jew amalek. And having consulted with various high-tech companies in Israel, I can assure you that secular Israelis have great respect for MO (and DL) Jews like me. Remember the DL community dies in greater percentage than the secular. you speak sheker not emes
lbj, learn some chumash; when klal yisroel left Egypt they intended to go directly to Eretz Yisroel. they were always guided by the ananai HaKavod. I don’t see any today
Stop preaching about your holy “laws”. The chareidim have a different set of laws, called the Torah which assurs znus and other behaviors prevalent in the army. The gedolei hador have stated that the army is a sakana for any frum bochur, not just the learning ones. If you argue on this you probably have one of the following problems.
1. You think the army is a great place for a frum jew and the army can be trusted to provide a kosher environment for the yeshiva bochurim. This is false. YWN just printed an article about this. https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/israel-news/2384079/idf-general-admits-army-did-not-meet-its-commitments-to-chareidim.html
2. You believe Dina demalchusa dina supercedes the gimmel chamuros. If you would have been alive in the times of the cantonists you would have supported giving children to shmad in the name of the holy law.
3. You don’t care about what the Torah says, only about what some torah hating apikores on the Supreme Bathroom has to say.
4. You believe you are a greater torah scholar than Rabbi Landau.
I also feel terrible that large numbers of ostensible shomrei Torah have fallen prey to false ideologies.
By the way, is there a list of countries clamoring to take hundreds of thousands of people committed to economic non-productivity?
Uncle Ben says:
“I don’t see the 20% of the population who are Arabs being drafted.”
===========================
MY RESPONSE:
Thank you for your comment. Please allow me to explain:
In Israel, Arabs are NOT DRAFTED INTO THE ARMY,
because the Arabs are THE ENEMY that
the Israel Army is working to defend against.
In Israel, Arabs are NOT DRAFTED INTO THE ARMY,
because the Arabs CANNOT BE TRUSTED
with guns or with anything.
Have a nice day!
It seems that all these bochurim will be risking jail time. If R Landau believes in his own osak, he should go and surrender himself to the closest police station. Whatever police decides to do would clarify the situation to the bochurim.
When an inadvertent murderer goes to the city of refuge, his Torah Teacher goes with him (because it is his fault too? because this person needs the Teacher? both?). I would imagine presence of R Landau would benefit bochurim in jail.
Another option for R Landau would be to go with bochurim to the army and personally review their accomodations in terms of presence of ladies and kashrus. Presumably, the army will pay attention to a mashgiach of this stature.
anIsraeli…
The differences are that David G., first Zionist leader, made a deal with Agudah to exempt all the Torah students, and that the Zionist draft is religious terrorism, whose express purpose is to convert Jews from Judaism to Zionism.
Oh, and bonus reason: the Zionist “State” does not have the halachic legitimacy of a “State”, unlike gentile (real) nations which do, like European and American nations.
@Uncle Ben – I said eligible.
an Israeli Yid
@rebEmes
you should go and learn. these people you are talking about are not part of Klal Yisroel.
@Lakewoodblt
We Jews didn’t create a “state within a state”. we existed before the zionists and never accepted their authority. In line with this, we reject “social cohesion” with the zionist culture and reject the imposition of “responsibilities” that come from any perceived partnership with them.
Some of you don’t even realize that you’re spitting between your words how much you don’t care about learning and how much you don’t value Torah. The fact that what a big rabbi says means nothing to you and you could call to go against him means that you’re headed for disaster. Even if you don’t agree with him, at the very least you keep it to yourself and show him respect. He has every right to stick up for the Torah and forbid his holy boys from going to such a spiritually devoid place. If you want to deny what goes on there go ahead and send your own family but don’t advocate for sending other ones that want to remain religious
HaKatan, Ben Gurion made a deal concerning Yeshiva students who had to be supported given the losses of the Shoah. Irrelevant today
lbj says: Not at all analogous. Yidden went in the midbar. That, at least, was somewhere to go. Which nation on Earth is going to absorb 66,000 bnei Torah? They have nowhere to go.
@DrYidd – additionally, the original deal was for a limited number (I can’t recall now if it was 400 or 500) of Bnei Yeshiva to have a deferral of 10 years – not an exemption, and not an unlimited number. The cap was raised to 800 by the mid 1970s – and then removed entirely in 1978 by Begin at the request of the Chareidi parties, whom he was sympathetic to ideologically. The current untenable situation was not foreseen then.
As to all those asking “what about the Arabs” – there is a reason they’re not draft-eligible, which has been provided by a number of others – it’s because having them in positions where they’d be fighting against close relatives was considered a security risk. However, there are a number of them who DO serve as volunteers, and serve well – and it’s a percentage that is higher than that of Chareidim. There has been a push to have them do some form of national service, and that is something that, in my view, should be pushed – but the need for their service in such roles is currently less urgent than the need for boots on the ground in the army, which is why that’s on the back burner for now.
As an aside – how does Arabs not serving negate the Mitzvah of helping save one’s fellow Jew that Chareidim are subject to – but that obviously does not apply to Arabs? Chareidim claim to be guided by Torah – so follow the Torah!!! Stop using “whataboutism” as a defense when the source of YOUR obligation is Torah.
an Israeli Yid