Rabbi Landau Orders Cancellation of Planned Mass Protest

A major ultra-Orthodox protest planned to disrupt central highways was canceled after a direct instruction from the home of Rabbi Dov Landau, the leading Lithuanian-Haredi rabbi. The demonstration had been scheduled for Wednesday, in response to the arrest of draft evaders, and was expected to draw tens of thousands of Haredim.

The decision was made on Monday night, while preparations for the large-scale event were already advancing and had received approval from another Lithuanian leader, Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch. A meeting attended by representatives of Degel HaTorah and Agudat Yisrael was supposed to focus on the logistics of the protest, which had been designed to block major roads with large convoys.

During the discussion, an urgent message arrived from Rabbi Dov Landau’s home ordering the organizers to stop all preparations immediately. The report does not say whether the protest may be revived later.