Wading into more controversy? US Amb Huckabee says Israel needs Torah students amid IDF draft law row

Israel needs soldiers but also Torah students, U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, told Rabbi Dov Lando during a visit to several grand rabbis in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak on Wednesday.

“Let me express to you that I do understand that as important as it is to have soldiers, you must also have scholars, scholars who remind you who you are, why you’re here,” Huckabee told Lando, via an interpreter.

“And soldiers to keep and protect that which God has given them.”

“If only there were many Jews who understood that,” Lando responded in Hebrew.

Rabbi Lando is the head of the Council of Torah Sages ruling the Degel HaTorah Party, the Lithuanian wing of the United Torah Judaism (UTJ) coalition.

The esteemed Ambassador Mike Huckabee meets with Rosh Yeshivah of Slabodka, Grand Rabbi Dov Landau in Bnei Brak, Israel, where Rabbi Landau praises America as a kingdom of kindness and expresses admiration for President Trump's kindness.
Rabbi David Hofstader of Dirshu… pic.twitter.com/lJaIhbKFN2

— Israel Heritage Foundation (IHF) (@IHF_Heritage) July 23, 2025

“The community of Torah and mitzvah-observant people here in the Holy Land is currently in dire straits,” Lando stressed, “as the legal system issues arrest warrants against yeshiva students studying Torah for the ‘crime’ of studying Torah.”

At the instruction of the Council of Torah Sages, UTJ left the government and the coalition last week. Its leaders continued to attack the government, claiming it was “waging war” against Torah students.

This is not the first time Huckabee risked being pulled into the highly contentious IDF draft law issue.

Shortly before Israel started its 12-Day campaign against Iran last month, the ambassador reportedly met with several senior ultra-Orthodox leaders in an effort to avert the dissolution of the Knesset and the announcement of new elections.

Faced with criticism, he said he told the leaders “that most Americans didn't understand the parliamentary government and would likely see a collapsed government as an unstable one given an ongoing war, daily threats from Houthi missiles, and a possible nuclear threat from Iran.”

A heartwarming scene unfolds as Ambassador Mike Huckabee is warmly greeted in Bnei Brak by American students from the Slabodka Yeshiva. The smiles on the boys faces and the Ambassador's radiant expression capture the spirit of connection and mutual respect. Rabbi Dovid Hofstedter… pic.twitter.com/6WrFCCJWch

— Israel Heritage Foundation (IHF) (@IHF_Heritage) July 24, 2025

Lando also expressed to Huckabee his “appreciation and respect” for U.S. President Donald Trump and the American people’s attempts to foster peace, and “for their firm stand as a kingdom of grace for the right of the people of Israel in the land and around the world, and especially in the recent war with Iran.”

“Please, tell President Trump to work for the Torah world. The Jewish people live and exist by virtue of the Torah. Torah scholars are the protectors, and their status must be preserved and their value sanctified,” he said.

The same day, Huckabee also visited U.S.-born Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch.

According to the Israel Heritage Foundation, which accompanied the visit, Hirsch and Huckabee “connect in English, bridging cultures and forging meaningful bonds built on shared values and mutual understanding. A beautiful moment of respect and connection.”