Rabbi Lando & Gafni's Defiant Dance Amid Draft Crisis

The choice of song was unmistakable. 'Utzu Eitzah V'Sufar, Dabru Davar V'Lo Yakum' - drawn from the prophet Isaiah's words of divine protection - has become the anthem of the Haredi community's response to what it views as systematic persecution. The message: no matter what schemes are devised against Torah study, they will ultimately fail.

The symbolic moment came against the backdrop of what Haredi leaders describe as an unprecedented campaign of intimidation. Overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, at least three yeshiva students were arrested and transferred to military police custody, one from Yeshivas Kibbutz Givat Ze'ev and two from Yeshivas Mishkan David. The arrests followed a dramatic policy shift by Police Commissioner Danny Levi, who ordered civilian police to immediately detain any yeshiva student classified as a draft evader and transfer them to military authorities.

Gafni Orders Complete Police Boycott

In response to the escalating enforcement, MK Gafni issued an extraordinary directive Wednesday afternoon ordering all Degel HaTorah representatives in local authorities nationwide to immediately cease cooperation with Israeli police, including municipal policing units. The letter, obtained by Kikar HaShabbat, stated bluntly: halt all cooperation "until further notice."

"So that we should not, God forbid, be partners in harming the holy Torah and those who study it," Gafni wrote in the unprecedented order. The directive represents the most dramatic escalation yet in the Haredi community's response to the draft enforcement crisis, effectively severing the working relationship between Haredi-led municipalities and law enforcement agencies across Israel.

"This Will Turn Into an Uprising"

MK Yaakov Asher of Degel HaTorah delivered a fiery address at a Haredi mortgage advisors conference, warning that the community's patience has limits. "The Haredi public will not sit quietly, this will eventually turn into some kind of uprising," Asher stated, his words reflecting the mounting frustration within the community.

Asher accused Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and Supreme Court justices of waging a "legal war" against the Haredi population, warning of attempts to achieve "even ultimately the starvation of a Haredi population, disproportionate harm to women, teachers, kindergarten teachers, children." He contrasted what he characterized as the justice system's sensitivity toward terrorist families with its treatment of the Haredi community: "When they need to pass a law for expelling terrorists' familiesm all the legal advisors say not to harm the families' rights. Take 10% of the sensitivity you have and apply it to this public."

Shas Joins the Attack

Shas MK Michael Malkieli launched his own scathing assault on Commissioner Levi, accusing him of political opportunism. "Hero against the weak!" Malkieli declared in a statement. "Suddenly before the elections you decided to make common cause with the Attorney General, hoping she won't dismiss you after the elections." He continued: "Instead of dealing with surging crime and murderers walking free, you're sending Israel's police to persecute Torah learners."

The political firestorm extended to the Knesset floor, where tensions between coalition partners reached new heights. Yahadut HaTorah sharply criticized the Religious Zionist party for boycotting a vote on the daycare centers law, with MK Uri Maklev stating: "The Likud's difficulty in recruiting a majority for the most elementary and humane thing — like daycare for babies who haven't sinned — proves there really is no bloc." Gafni added: "The hatred against the Haredi public makes them lose their minds and harms even the working and weak public."

As Rabbi Lando and MK Gafni concluded their defiant duet at the family celebration, the message resonated far beyond the simcha hall: the Haredi leadership views the current enforcement campaign not as a legal matter but as an existential threat to Torah study itself — and they have no intention of acquiescing quietly.