PM Defends Religious Zionist Soldiers

The controversy ignited during a private meeting at Rabbi Lando's Bnei Brak residence with the heads of the Mir Yeshiva, including Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Finkel and Mashgiach Rabbi Binyamin Finkel. During the discussion, Rabbi Lando addressed what he described as the current wave of hardship facing Haredi society, attributing it to secular leadership before turning his criticism toward the religious Zionist community.

"There are wicked people among those who wear knitted kippot," Rabbi Lando stated, according to sources familiar with the meeting. "They fight for the honor of the state — this is real murder."

The remarks, which quickly leaked beyond the closed-door gathering, drew an immediate and forceful response from Degel HaTorah, the political party representing the Lithuanian Haredi community that Rabbi Lando spiritually guides.

"The words of the Torah sages are the holiest of holies for the people of Israel, and from their mouths we live," the party declared in an official statement released Monday afternoon. "Those who do not live in the world of Torah and do not understand the depth of their words would do well not to rush to interpret them, and certainly not to attack them. Beware their burning coals."

The biblical warning — "beware their burning coals" — represents one of the sharpest rebukes a Haredi party can issue to a sitting prime minister, signaling that Degel HaTorah views Netanyahu's public criticism of Rabbi Lando as crossing a red line.

MK Moshe Gafni, chairman of United Torah Judaism and a senior Degel HaTorah figure, has been increasingly vocal in recent weeks about what he characterizes as the coalition's broken promises to the Haredi sector, warning he would not allow himself to be "humiliated again" after months of unfulfilled commitments.

The controversy took on additional political dimensions when Yonatan Urich, a close adviser to Netanyahu, entered the fray with a direct attack on Degel HaTorah via social media. "Better late than never: do not speak ill of IDF soldiers," Urich wrote on X. "I repeat and emphasize: do not speak ill of IDF soldiers. Not maybe, not nearby, not because, not at all. We have zero tolerance for this."

Urich's intervention, coupled with his citation of a Mishnaic teaching, signals that the Netanyahu camp views the incident not merely as a religious dispute but as a political weapon heading into what many expect will be an imminent election campaign. The move transforms Rabbi Lando's remarks into campaign fodder, potentially mobilizing religious Zionist voters who have grown frustrated with the coalition's concessions to Haredi parties.

The timing of the controversy could hardly be worse for coalition stability. Netanyahu is reportedly preparing to dissolve the Knesset without passing any of the key legislation demanded by the Haredi parties, including the daycare law, temporary measures halting arrests of yeshiva students, and the controversial Basic Law on Torah Study.

Senior Haredi officials have privately acknowledged their political strategy has collapsed. "We failed at everything," one official admitted. "We have nothing to show our voters."

The escalating tensions between Netanyahu and the Haredi leadership come as Rabbi Lando himself recently completed a high-profile fundraising tour across the United States, where thousands gathered in Lakewood for what organizers described as a historic emergency campaign to support Israeli yeshivas facing severe budget cuts.

As the political fallout continues, the incident reveals the deepening fractures within Netanyahu's coalition and the increasingly difficult balancing act required to maintain support from both religious Zionist and Haredi constituencies — a challenge that may prove insurmountable as Israel heads toward what appears to be an inevitable election.