Netanyahu slams senior Haredi Rabbi for attacking National Religious IDF soldiers
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed Rabbi Dov Lando, the spiritual leader of the ultra-Orthodox Degel Hatorah, for suggesting religious soldiers were committing murder when killing enemies during army service.
"I strongly reject the shocking remarks... IDF soldiers—religious, secular, and Haredi alike—leave their homes, their jobs, and their families, and risk their lives to defend the State of Israel, its citizens, and the Jewish people as a whole," Netanyahu said. "They deserve deep appreciation, gratitude, and the full support of every sector of the public, and certainly from the Torah world as well."
Lando has been among the leading opponents of military service by ultra-Orthodox men. Speaking about men in the religious Zionist community who serve in the IDF, he had said, “If the state sends people, soldiers, for the honor of the state, and they kill people, is that also permissible? It’s very much murder. So they incite murder. They wage wars not only for the sake of salvation, but for the honor of the state.”
Sources close to Lando's circle told Army Radio, "It is unclear what Netanyahu is condemning. The rabbi did not speak about Religious Zionist soldiers themselves. He was referring solely to a theoretical halachic discussion about a situation in which the state sends soldiers to war for the sake of its honor, rather than for a war of survival. Nothing more."
