Ultra-Orthodox leader calls for mass draft refusal – 'war has been declared'
Showing up at recruitment office constitutes 'surrender in their war against God and His Torah'
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![Rabbi Dov Lando](https://cdn.i24news.tv/uploads/41/a7/22/8d/26/23/4c/51/50/7c/7e/fb/c5/90/62/a9/41a7228d26234c51507c7efbc59062a9.jpg?width=1000)
Rabbi Dov Lando, a leader of the Lithuanian strain of ultra-Orthodox Jewry in Israel, called on yeshiva students to refuse to appear in recruitment centers in a letter published on Thursday.
Writing for the Yated Ne'eman paper, affiliated with United Torah Judaism, he slammed Israel's government for having "declared war on the world of Torah,"
He instructed students in yeshivas, or advanced Jewish schools, to "not appear at all at the recruitment offices, and not to respond to any summons - not even the first summons."
Lando said that, "during the years of governance here in the country, there was an understanding with the military authorities," but "situation is now that the courts have declared war against the world of Torah, and they are the ones who opened a front and came to change the arrangement that has been in place for years."
The courts "instructed the army to start the enlistment process of yeshiva students, and since the army is subservient to the courts, we cannot rely on agreements and understandings with the army chiefs since their hands are bound with chains of iron by the judges," he said.
"Any response to the decrees of the courts constitutes a surrender in their war against God and his Torah."
Senior Sephardic rabbis also announced on Wednesday, after prolonged discussion, in a joint statement that "it is clear that any presence in the recruitment offices is forbidden according to the Torah. According to the old ultra-Orthodox tracks and the new ones that will be established, it is severely prohibited to go there."
"As the haters of the Lord have lifted their heads and continue to harm the observant public and the holy yeshiva students with the dreadful draft decree," the statement said, "the implications are the destruction of the Torah... Therefore, we instruct all those involved in the matter to immediately refrain from all these legislative actions and to oppose them vehemently as they contradict the holy Torah."