Latest news with #YatedNe'eman
LeMonde
2 days ago
- Politics
- LeMonde
In Israel, ultra-Orthodox Jews are opposing Netanyahu to avoid conscription
The ultra-Orthodox newspaper Yated Ne'eman, on Thursday, August 7, headlined on the front page in bold black letters: "War." In Gaza against Hamas? No, against the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, accused of undermining ultra-Orthodox Judaism after the recent arrest of several young haredim (those who "tremble" before God), members of a community that refuses conscription − mandatory for all Jewish citizens in Israel. On Thursday, ultra-Orthodox rabbis thus called for religious mobilization against military mobilization, urging their male followers to demonstrate in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv to condemn attempts to forcibly enlist their youth. Several thousand men responded to the call. In front of the demonstrators, who danced and sang sacred texts on the outskirts of one of Jerusalem's main Orthodox neighborhoods, Rabbi Moshe Tsadka advocated religious disobedience: "Go to the yeshivas [religious schools], not the army! Those who do not go to the yeshivas should be punished, not those who refuse to serve in the army. God saved us when we left Egypt and gave us the Torah to guide us!" Another rabbi, Yehuda Cohen, addressed the crowd: "We have followed the Torah for the 3,337 years since God gave it to us, and we do not follow the government."
LeMonde
3 days ago
- Politics
- LeMonde
Israel's ultra-Orthodox vow to push back after students' arrests
Israel's ultra-Orthodox Jewish community pledged to resist government moves to call up seminary students for military service on Thursday, August 7, as demonstrators took to the streets to protest the arrest of two objectors. "The authorities will face a united global ultra-Orthodox Judaism fighting for its soul," the spiritual leader of ultra-Orthodox Jews of European descent, Rabbi Dov Landau, told the community's leading newspaper Yated Ne'eman under the front-page headline "War." The exemption of many ultra-Orthodox men from the military service performed by other Jews has long been a contentious issue in Israel but it has become more so as the Gaza war has dragged on, putting a strain on army reservists. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has depended on the support of two ultra-Orthodox parties for its majority in parliament. But its failure to pass new legislation to give full-time seminary students continued exemption from military service has tested that support. Both ultra-Orthodox parties have withdrawn their ministers from the government, while one has also stopped supporting it in parliament. The ultra-Orthodox community represents 14 % of Israel's Jewish population − about 1.3 million people − and around 66,000 men of military age previously benefited each year from exemptions. The Israeli army announced in early July that tens of thousands of conscription orders would be sent out to ultra-Orthodox Jews. Earlier this week, authorities arrested two brothers, both full-time seminary students, after they failed to heed their call-up papers. In Jerusalem on Thursday evening, ultra-Orthodox Jewish demonstrators gathered to protest the arrests, with police later using water cannon to disperse the crowd.
Middle East Eye
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Israeli press review: 'Zionism does not fit our worldview,' says rabbi
Ultra-orthodox rabbis criticise Zionism Rabbi Dov Lando, a leader of the Lithuanian strain of ultra-Orthodox Judaism in Israel, has criticised Zionism in a recent letter sent to the editor-in-chief of Yated Ne'eman, one of the country's leading ultra-Orthodox newspapers. "Zionism is a movement whose goal is to place the people of Israel on a distinctly secular basis, whose content is heresy and rebellion against the Kingdom of Heaven,' Lando wrote to editor Rabbi Israel Friedman, adding that there was 'no permission' to join with Zionists. Lando, who heads one of the oldest yeshivas (orthodox seminaries) in Israel, is known for his anti-Zionist views. During an interview in which he revealed the contents of Lando's letter, Friedman also expressed anti-Zionist views. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters According to Friedman, Zionism attempted to create a "new Jew", contradicting the values of ultra-Orthodox society. "Zionism does not fit our worldview," he said. "The people of Israel are 3,000 years old, while the Israeli people have only existed for 80 years." "We must continue on our path and maintain the walls of separation and alienation," he concluded, referring to the Orthodox way of life. Since the beginning of the war on Gaza, there has been a heated public debate on whether the ultra-Orthodox should have to enlist to the army. Since the creation of the state of Israel, the ultra-Orthodox have been exempted from conscription to enable them to study in seminaries. Those studies are funded by the state. "We don't believe in the rule of the infidels, and we don't show up in their recruitment offices." In a video published by the Israeli minister of construction and housing on X, Yitzhak Goldknopf, a group of Israeli men sing songs against being drafted into the Israeli army — Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) March 24, 2025 Earlier this week, Yitzhak Goldknopf, Israel's minister of housing and construction, and head of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, was filmed at a wedding singing: "We don't believe in the rule of the infidels, and we don't show up in their recruitment offices" and "We will die and not enlist'. The video was criticised in Israel, including within the ranks of the far-right government, prompting Goldknopf to apologise. Israeli city near Lebanon is a 'ghost town' Kiryat Shmona, one of Israel's northernmost cities and closest to the border with Lebanon, resembles a ghost town, according to an article published this week on Ynet. "Stores are closing on a daily basis, the large mall is abandoned and will not open until August, and business owners and entrepreneurs are struggling to cope with the lack of support and the bureaucracy in order to receive compensation," the report stated. A fabric store owner said that most residents had not yet returned to the city and the evacuated surrounding communities, and that "maybe one or two customers come here a day". Residents told Ynet that before the war, Kiryat Shmona, with its 24,000 residents, was a commercial centre in northern Israel. But in the wake of hostilities across the border with Lebanon, the city had now been dubbed a "disaster-stricken area." Avichai Stern, the mayor of Kiryat Shmona, who recently won another term, has questioned the ability of the city to return to normal. Stern's deputy, Zeevik Zvili, said in an interview last month, "We were forced to return to Kiryat Shmona; we don't have a sense of security." According to Zwilli, only 60 percent of residents had returned to the city after evacuating at the beginning of the war. New military chief accused of being 'against the army' Eyal Zamir, the new chief of staff of the Israeli military, has been criticised in sections of Israel's media for failing to challenge the government's resumption of war. Upon his appointment, Zamir was praised by politicians and journalists from across the political spectrum for his vast military experience. But Yagil Levy, an expert in military-social relations at the Open University, wrote this week in Haaretz that the chief of staff was 'against the army'. Invitees shun antisemitism conference in Israel after European far right attends Read More » According to Levy, all previous chiefs of staff in Israel's history had made efforts to strengthen the army, but that it was 'doubtful' whether Zamir would continue that. "Zamir is not only refraining from standing up to the politicians and opposing the renewal of the war in Gaza - he is doing the opposite," Levy said. According to the columnist, Zamir had ignored the exhaustion of soldiers, the danger to Israeli captives, the killing of Palestinians and protests against the far-right government's judicial reforms. Zvi Barel, another commentator in Haaretz, also criticised the army following the renewal of the war. "The new war that is creeping up in Gaza is neither a defensive war nor a war of no choice. This is a political war," Barel wrote. According to Barel, the plans for this new war were written even before US President Donald Trump took office. He said that the far-right in Israel felt like they now had a "historic opportunity", in both the occupied West Bank and Gaza. Barel added that no one would be surprised if the establishment of settlements in Gaza was soon added to the war's goals. He concluded by asking whether a 'government's army' was now developing instead of a people's army, and whether the loyalty of soldiers would soon be tested by their 'willingness to kill and be killed'. *Israeli press review is a digest of news reports not independently verified as accurate by Middle East Eye.
