Tel-Chai Nation

Recently, a Haredi rabbi, Dov Landau, voiced another atrocity hurtful to Israel by calling on his movement to cut ties with Zionist movements, all at a time when unity is needed after October 7, 2023:

Rabbi Dov Landau, one of the spiritual leaders of the Degel HaTorah political party and among the senior rabbis of the ultra-Orthodox community in Israel, has called for a withdrawal from Zionist institutions, whose ideology is “rooted in heresy.”

As co-chair of the council of sages, which directs the policy of the ultra-orthodox United Torah Judaism (UTJ) Party, Landau’s instructions could have far-reaching implications.

Despite taking part in the political process, and receiving money from state institutions, UTJ and its Haredi base have historically maintained an ideological opposition to the Zionist ideology.

Landau’s most recent statement, which was published on Tuesday in the ultra-Orthodox daily Yated Ne'eman, came amid a fresh debate over the involvement of the ultra-orthodox community in Zionist institutions like the World Zionist Organization (WZO).

“Zionism is a movement whose purpose is to establish the Jewish people on an explicitly secular foundation, rooted in heresy and rebellion against divine sovereignty,” Landau wrote.

“All the national institutions are built upon this ideology. There is no allowance to participate with them, serve in any role within their institutions, or vote in their elections in any form whatsoever,” he added.

This, Landau wrote, would be “support for heresy and desecration of God's name,” a Jewish theological concept akin to blasphemy.

This is disgusting he's make such a stupid claim, and made even worse by his apparent dhimmitude:

Rabbi Landau has repeatedly attracted harsh criticism for his statements in the past. Two weeks ago, he advocated Arab rule over Israel.

“The best situation, [if] the Arabs would rule, they would respect them (Zionists), not interfere with them, bring money to the country – the Arabs love money,” Landau was cited by the Kikar newspaper.

Look who's talking. Somebody who, as noted in reports, takes millions of shekels for the yeshivas he runs. He may have said "Arabs", but it's clear what he actually means is the Religion of Peace, and it won't be shocking if he's fully okay with that. Last year, Landau also kowtowed to the former fraud-in-chief Joe Biden when the USA ambassador at the time, Jack Lew, paid him a visit:

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Jacob Lew made a discreet visit on Monday to the home of Rabbi Dov Landau, the senior spiritual leader of the ultra-Orthodox community’s Lithuanian stream.

During the meeting, the ambassador conveyed a personal message from U.S. President Joe Biden detailing his opposition to Jews ascending the Temple Mount. The ambassador thanked Rabbi Landau for his efforts to calm tensions and prevent security escalations throughout the Middle East.

This too is something enemies of Israel want to hear. Coming as it did post-October 7, 2023, it's very offensive and defeatist. Landau should be ashamed of himself for backing what leftists would want, and if he teaches this kind of propaganda to the subjects at the yeshivas, he's causing additional damage. Does he also support Islamic sharia, and imposing it upon anybody in Israel who dares take a Zionist position?

A writer at the Jerusalem Post who once worked with Bnei Akiva weighed in on this disturbing case:

In a recent conversation that should alarm anyone concerned with Israeli social cohesion, Rabbi Dov Landau – one of the most influential leaders in the haredi world – presented views that suggest the gulf between the ultra-Orthodox and mainstream Israeli society is widening rather than narrowing.

The timing is particularly striking. As Israel faces unprecedented security challenges and political leaders grapple with the perennial question of haredi military service, Rabbi Landau’s interview, a transcript of which was published on the Kikar website, represents not just a maintenance of traditional haredi anti-Zionist positions, but an intensification.

Although there have been a number of important haredi rabbis with comments seemingly tone deaf to the wider Israeli public, there is no doubting that Rabbi Landau is the most senior so far.

This is also not his first controversial statement. Much earlier in the war he was filmed talking to a reserve colonel who had returned from the front, about haredim and the national war effort.

Among other things, Rabbi Landau expressed his opinion (the equivalent of a ruling in Jewish Law) that haredi boys studying in yeshiva should not attend the funerals of soldiers, visit the mourners or visit the wounded. All this would disturb their Torah study, which is the only thing important for Israel’s national security.

To refuse to attend a soldier's funeral at such a time only compounds the lack of gratitude for defending lives of innocent civilians the man tragically has.

His central claim – that Torah study alone protects Israel – is expressed in stark terms: “There’s no explanation for why the Arabs don’t unite to flood the entire land and, God forbid, destroy everyone... There’s nothing to attribute it to except Torah study.”

He goes further to explicitly argue that soldiers’ deaths occur “because we don’t study enough.”

And this is an exoneration and excusing of Islam's guilt. If there's any ally the Religion of Peace has among religious Israelis, it would be Haredi zealots like Landau. He's humiliating the Judaist religion with his narrow ignorance.

This theological certainty leads him to a remarkable conclusion: “It’s hard to put into words the power that each boy studying Torah has on saving the Jewish people.”

If that were the case, October 7, 2023 wouldn't have happened. Ignorance and sympathy with aggressors is what costs lives of innocents Jews and even foreign innocents.

Most remarkably, Rabbi Landau ventures into territory more commonly associated with the anti-Zionist Neturei Karta than mainstream haredi leadership. He praises pre-state arrangements where Jews lived under Arab rule, noting approvingly how Rabbi Chaim Sonnenfeld interacted with Arab leaders: “If the Arabs had received such treatment, the situation would be different.”

He even suggests that it would be “quite good that Arabs rule here, the best situation.” Such positions go beyond traditional Agudath Israel non-Zionism into active antipathy to Jewish sovereignty.

[...] THIS HARDENING of positions comes at a crucial moment. The October 7 attacks and subsequent war have led many Israelis to question the sustainability of current haredi exemptions from military service.

Rather than acknowledging these concerns, Rabbi Landau’s response essentially dismisses them, claiming credit for Israel’s survival through Torah study alone.

The government’s continued attempts to find legislative solutions to haredi military service appear increasingly futile in light of such statements.

Yes, this is exactly why it's ultimately useless to support even compromises. We need all the help we can get, and this monster is only widening the gaps, and said exactly what anti-Israelists want to hear, including, but not limited to, Islamofascists. Landau's statements are also stratospherically hurtful to defenseless victims like the Bibas family.

The government should sever all ties with Landau, and stop funding his yeshivas. He's doubtless indoctrinated many a mind at them, and it's time for his brainwashing to cease.

Labels: anti-semitism, dhimmitude, haredi corruption, islam, Israel, Jerusalem, jihad, Judaism, Knesset, military, misogyny, Moonbattery, political corruption, racism, sexual violence, terrorism, United States, war on terror