Senior Haredi Rabbi Attacks State Founders, Zionism
Translated & summarized from N12 by baba
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Senior Haredi Rabbi Dov Lando heavily criticized Zionism and Israel's founders.
- He suggested Arab or UN rule would have been preferable to the Jewish state.
- Lando blamed Zionism for national disasters and increased Arab hostility.
- He claimed soldiers die due to distorted religious teachings and state honor.
- The rabbi also criticized contemporary secular Israelis' lack of Jewish connection.
A rare recording has revealed sharp criticisms from Rabbi Dov Lando, 96, the paramount leader of the Litvish Haredi sector, directed at the founders of the State of Israel, Zionism, and the Religious Zionist community. Speaking in his Bnei Brak home during the ongoing conflict to a small group of rabbis, Rabbi Lando, whose opinions heavily influence the United Torah Judaism and Shas parties and whom Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeks to appease, expressed a deeply critical worldview.
Rabbi Lando addressed the dilemma faced by some Haredi youths who feel conflicted seeing Religious Zionist soldiers fighting and dying while also studying Torah. He dismissed this concern, stating that those who are killed are dying because "their rabbis teach distorted Torah" and because "they do many of their actions not for salvation, but for the honor of the state. They kill people for honor." He asserted that only Torah scholars in yeshivas truly protect the land.
He further questioned the very existence of Jewish sovereignty, suggesting it would have been preferable for the UN or Arabs to rule Israel. "It would have been better if the UN or the Arabs ruled here," he stated, adding that "Zionism brought material disasters" and caused increased Arab animosity. He described the relationship between the Haredi public and the state as being like living "among thieves who are saving us."
Rabbi Lando also criticized contemporary secular Israelis, contrasting them with secular people he remembered from the past. He lamented their lack of connection to Judaism, calling the establishment of a secular state by the Jewish people a "great desecration of God's name."
