From the Liveblog of
Sunday, February 15, 2026
Top rabbis urge yeshiva students to avoid protests
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Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. 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"
Following today’s mob attack on two female IDF servicewomen in Bnei Brak, Rabbis Dov Lando and Moshe Hillel Hirsch, the senior spiritual leaders of the United Torah Judaism party’s Degel HaTorah faction, call on ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students to refrain from attending demonstrations.
“It is strictly forbidden, under any circumstances, to participate in or be present among those who go to places where there are confrontations with the police. One must remain in the yeshiva for studies and all scheduled yeshiva sessions. Heaven forbid that anyone should be in those places where they confront the police. Aside from the physical danger, this constitutes a great desecration of God’s Name,” the rabbis write in an open letter.
The letter comes hours after a spokesman for Lando re-released a video of the rabbi calling on members of the Haredi community not to take part in public protests in which he stated that those taking to the streets “are doing great harm.”
The video was initially recorded after a Haredi teenager was killed at an anti-conscription protest in Jerusalem last month.
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