Rav Eliyahu Diskin: “The Army Has No Interest in Yeshiva Bochurim — Just Look at Putin”
In a candid address, Rav Eliyahu Diskin, rosh yeshiva of Netiv HaDaas and Imrei Moshe in Yerushalayim, offered sharp insight into the current situation in Israel, declaring that the Israeli army never had any real desire to recruit yeshiva students, drawing a striking comparison to the Russian army under Vladimir Putin.
Rav Diskin’s remarks were delivered as part of the Vaad Darchei HaChizuk gatherings, which take place weekly at Yeshivas Maseches Chochmah and are led by the talmidim of the late rosh yeshiva, Rav Gershon Edelstein zt”l.
Addressing the motives behind mass rallies and protests, Rav Diskin cautioned against viewing the upcoming atzeres as a battle of “us versus them.”
“Why do people go to a protest?” he asked. “Because ‘they’ are against ‘us.’ The chilonim are against the chareidim, and now ‘we’ will show them our strength. That’s the same yetzer hara that fuels nationalism — dying for the country, dying for the party, dying for the team. Boruch Hashem, our people are yirei Shamayim, but this cannot be our mindset.”
He emphasized that participation must come from a higher purpose. “We must remember — everything depends on the machshavah. We’re not fighting for honor; we’re fighting for kavod Shamayim.”
Rav Diskin continued by explaining that the protest itself would not directly impact government policy. “One of the reasons the army has never drafted bnei yeshivos until now is not because they valued Torah learning,” he said. “The army — anyone thinking realistically — doesn’t want yeshiva bochurim. It’s simple logic. When Putin went to war with Ukraine four years ago, everyone thought it would be over in a day or two. What’s Ukraine compared to Russia? But what happened in the end?”
He elaborated: “The reason is simple. Ukrainian soldiers were patriots. The Russian soldiers didn’t love Russia the way Ukrainians loved their country. An army built on coercion is worthless! You can’t build an army out of people forced to serve. It destroys the entire army. That’s why, until now, neither the army nor the state ever wanted the bnei yeshivos to enlist.”
Turning to the judiciary, Rav Diskin sharply criticized Israel’s High Court and the Attorney General’s Office. “We are now in the exile of that great klipah called the Bagatz and the yo’etz mishpati. They don’t care about the army or the country. Let everything burn down — all they care about is having a secular state, ‘al Hashem v’al Meshicho.’ That’s why protests don’t interest them at all.”
Citing Rav Gershon Edelstein zt”l, he explained the true purpose of attending the atzeres. “Rav Gershon said that what we need are zechuyos — merits. That’s the point. When we gather, we’re not demonstrating politically; we’re gathering to create zechuyos for Klal Yisroel.”
Rav Diskin referenced the nevuah in Malachi: “‘You have said it is futile to serve Hashem… and now we call the arrogant happy.’ This describes a situation where people lose sight of the value of avodas Hashem. Many have been inspired since Simchas Torah, but those few leading the current government — that’s another story.”
He pointed out that despite the demographic balance in Israel, a small secular elite dominates the centers of power. “Today, a third of the country is religious or chareidi, a third traditional, and a third secular — and within that secular third, only a tiny fraction truly hates religion. But they control everything — the courts, the media, the Bagatz. Nowhere else in the world does such a minority hold such power.”
Quoting the Gra on the Zohar, Rav Diskin explained that this phenomenon was foretold. “The Zohar says that in the end of days, the Erev Rav — the ‘maidservants’ — will come first, followed by the masses, and only then the bnei Torah. The Gra writes that the Erev Rav — the nefilim, gibborim, amalekim, rephaim — will rule. So even if elections take place every few years, it won’t change anything. The ruling class doesn’t represent the people. This is a gezeirah — the klipah will rule at the end of days.”
He concluded with a call to introspection and tefillah. “There’s no one to talk to — they’re deaf to reason. The protest itself may not be worth a klipas ha-shum, but what it is worth — as Rav Gershon said — is zechuyos, zechuyos, zechuyos. That’s what we need. The essence is not the demonstration itself, but the collective tefillah and the declaration: ‘Az nedabru yirei Hashem ish el re’eihu’.”
{Matzav.com}
