Rabbi Dov Landau, the leader of the Lithuanian non-Hasidic Haredi community, issued a statement Thursday evening opposing the ongoing vehicle protests against IDF conscription. Landau stated that strengthening Torah study is the appropriate response to draft decrees, describing the protests as not 'our way' and warning they cause 'desecration of God's name.'
Rabbi Dov Landau, the leading rabbinical authority of the Lithuanian (non-Hasidic Haredi) community, spoke out Thursday night against the ongoing vehicle protests organized by some Haredi groups to oppose IDF conscription of yeshiva students.
In a statement carried by Eli Hirshman on N12, Landau said: 'There is no doubt that every strengthening in Torah study will help against all decrees. Various other types of protests that we have not heard from our rabbis, the great ones of the land — their merit should protect us — are not our way, and often these protests cause desecration of God's name, may He protect us.'
As The Zioneer previously reported, the protest movement has drawn support from some rabbinic leaders — including Rabbi Hirsch of Degel HaTorah and Rabbi Dandrovič of the Gur community — while other figures have remained silent or opposed it. Landau's explicit condemnation marks a clear split within the non-Hasidic Lithuanian leadership and could significantly diminish participation from that community in future protests. The conscription crisis stems from the government's push to end mass draft exemptions for yeshiva students, a policy backed by a Supreme Court ruling.
2 developments
- StrongHaredi Lithuanian plan unprecedented protest convoy against draft for Wednesday
- DevelopingDegel HaTorah leader Rabbi Hirsch joins call for vehicle protest
- DevelopingGur hasidic leader Rabbi Dandrovič calls on community to join vehicle protest against IDF draft
- DevelopingJerusalem 'Edah Charedit' joins protest against military enlistment, shutting down its kolels
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