From the Liveblog of
Monday, January 5, 2026
Degel HaTorah spiritual leader: Those enforcing draft of Haredi men are fighting against God
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"
Addressing a gathering in honor of two draft evaders released from military prison, the spiritual leader of the ultra-Orthodox Degel HaTorah party claims that those enforcing Haredi military conscription are fighting against God and Torah.
“When a yeshiva student is placed in prison solely because he wishes to study Torah, it is not he who is in prison! The Torah itself, God forbid, is in prison,” Rabbi Dov Lando claims during a celebration in honor of Yitzhak Revivo and Yair Saadeh.
“Let everyone who is complicit in this crime of casting the holy Torah, the Torah of God, behind bars know this: you are not fighting flesh and blood; you are fighting the Torah and the one who gave it, blessed be his name,” Lando declares.
“Regrettably, we find ourselves in exile among Jews, and we all pray that God will help us, that he will soon redeem us from this exile and that we will study Torah in peace and security.”
Lando, 95, is a steadfast opponent of Haredi conscription to the Israel Defense Forces and has ordered yeshiva students to ignore call-up orders, prompting Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman to file a criminal complaint against him.
Earlier this year, a Times of Israel investigation found that the Vaad HaYeshivot (Yeshiva Committee), on whose board he sits, had been actively advising yeshiva students to ignore enlistment orders in violation of the law.
The Times of Israel Community.