Rabbi says recruitment of ultra-Orthodox is a “declaration of war” by judges against “the world of Torah”
11 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –
A prominent ultra-Orthodox Jewish leader, Rabbi Dov Lando, has urged yeshiva students not to report to Israel’s army recruiting offices after Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced that the process would begin in August, after the Supreme Court removed their military exemption.
“Yeshiva members must not report to recruitment offices at all, and must not respond to any summons at all, not even the first one,” Lando wrote in a letter published in the Yated Neeman daily, which is affiliated with the non-Hasidic Degel HaTorah faction of the United Torah Judaism party, a key partner in the government coalition.
In this regard, he recalled that for years there has been an agreement between the military and the religious not to recruit people dedicated to the study of Judaism, who must “be immersed in their studies” and “meditate day and night from the peace of silence” as a way of dedicating their lives to the Torah, the sacred book of the Jews.
“The situation at the moment is that the courts have declared war on the Torah world, and it is they who have opened a front and have come to change an agreement that has existed for years, ordering the Army to begin the process of actually recruiting members of the ‘yeshiva’,” the rabbi said.
Gallant said in a statement that he made the decision after a meeting with Army chief Herzi Halevi and other senior officials, in which “the recommendation of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to issue (recruitment) orders to members of the haredi community” was approved starting in August due to an “operational necessity,” although he assured that these soldiers must be able to “maintain their lifestyle” once they join the ranks of the Army.
The announcement comes after Israel’s Supreme Court ruled in late June that there is no legal basis for ultra-Orthodox Israelis to be exempt from military service, amid tensions over the issue within Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition of far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties.
The Supreme Court ruling also provides for a freeze on funding for Talmudic schools that do not comply with the enlistment regulations. The ultra-Orthodox sector considers military service incompatible with their life dedicated to religious study and fears that those who do it will distance themselves from their traditions and beliefs.
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