From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, June 24, 2026
Anti-conscription rally opens rift between Degel HaTorah spiritual leaders
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Bucking the Degel HaTorah spiritual leader Rabbi Dov Lando, Moshe Hillel Hirsch, one of the faction’s top rabbis, endorses today’s anti-conscription demonstration outside the Neve Tzedek (Beit Lid) military prison in Kfar Yona.
Hirsch’s endorsement comes one day after spokesmen for Lando and Degel HaTorah told The Times of Israel they were not involved in the protest in any way.
A week ago, Lando nixed Hirsch’s decision to support their faction’s participation in an almost identical protest.
Following a mob attack on two female IDF servicewomen in Bnei Brak in February, both Lando and Hirsch had called on ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students to refrain from attending demonstrations.
Agudat Yisrael, which together with Degel HaTorah comprises the Knesset’s United Torah Judaism party, is set to send out convoys of hundreds of cars from ultra-Orthodox communities across the country at 4 p.m. culminating in a massive anti-conscription demonstration.
A spokesman for Lando does not immediately reply to a request for comment on Hirsch’s endorsement of the demonstration.
The Times of Israel Community.