Israeli Yated Ne’eman Attack Exposes Deep Rift Over Draft Law
A rare and unusually sharp unsigned editorial published Tuesday in the Israeli Hebrew Yated Ne’eman, the flagship newspaper of the Degel HaTorah faction of UTJ, has laid bare a profound internal fracture within the chareidi public over the proposed IDF draft law. The article, attributed only to “one of the rabbonim,” launches a fierce attack on opponents of the legislation and places significant blame on the Chassidishe Agudas Yisroel faction of UTJ for what it describes as a worsening crisis, all against the backdrop of hundreds of chareidi young men enlisting in the IDF in recent days.
The editorial, described by observers as unprecedented in tone for Yated Ne’eman, targets critics of the draft bill being advanced by Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Boaz Bismuth. The paper argues that “in the face of a campaign of propaganda and falsehoods, there is a need to present the unvarnished truth.” Beneath that claim, however, the article reflects deep frustration within the Litvishe chareidi camp over what it sees as the erosion of its long-standing leadership role in shaping chareidi policy and public discourse.
For decades, Yated Ne’eman and the Litvishe rabbinic leadership it represents were widely viewed as setting the tone on the most sensitive communal issues, with other chareidi factions often deferring to their guidance. According to the report, senior Chassidic rebbes once waited to hear the Litvishe position before taking public stances on controversial matters.
That dynamic, the article suggests, has changed dramatically. In recent years, those from other chareidi communities have shown diminishing interest in Litvishe positions. Large anti-draft rallies have been held in defiance of leading Litvishe rabbanim, and Yated Ne’eman now openly laments that Chassidic newspapers and leaders feel free to attack the draft law publicly.
The split is increasingly visible across the chareidi media landscape. In recent weeks, Chassidic newspapers have waged an aggressive campaign against the proposed law, while the Litvishe public has largely remained quieter. Shas, which often aligns with the Litvishe camp, has also been drawn into the divide. A major anti-draft rally scheduled for Yerushalayim today highlights how fractured the chareidi street has become.
The tension is compounded by hard numbers. According to the report, between 600 and 700 chareidi young men are expected to enlist in the IDF this week alone — a figure far higher than what chareidi political operatives had anticipated. The army is seen as the primary beneficiary of the disunity.
The rift extends beyond Yated Ne’eman. Also this morning, Hamodia, identified with the Gerer Chassidus and Housing Minister Yitzchok Goldknopf, devoted a full page to opposing the draft law. HaMevaser, aligned with the Shlomei Emunim faction led by the Porush family, published similarly scathing criticism. In contrast, Yated Ne’eman devoted its editorial space to explaining why, in its view, the law must be passed.
In its arguments, Yated Ne’eman reiterates a core position: the Toraso umnaso arrangement is intended solely for genuine full-time lomdei Torah and must not be exploited by young men who are not learning seriously. This is a position that was famously held by Rav Elazar Menachem Man Shach. At the same time, it insists that military service itself remains absolutely forbidden. The paper stresses that the struggle over conscription must not be conflated with the broader mission of preserving the Torah world, warning that such conflation is “entirely destructive.”
For years, tens of thousands of chareidi young men who were not learning were nevertheless covered by the exemption framework, until the law expired. From a chareidi ideological perspective, the paper argues, even an idle young man is preferable on the street than in uniform, out of fear that the visible presence of chareidi soldiers would normalize enlistment and eventually unravel the fabric of chareidi society.
Yated Ne’eman places responsibility for the current vacuum squarely on “other factions within United Torah Judaism,” accusing them of blocking earlier, more favorable legislation while insisting on waiting for a better political opportunity, a fact that has been highlighted many times in the past.
The paper further claims that chareidi opponents of the bill are “preventing any form of rescue, even a minimal one,” and dismisses reports suggesting that leading Litvishe gedolim have agreed to compromises on the severity of the draft issue as “an outrageous falsehood.”
Warning of dire consequences, the editorial argues that arrests and imprisonment of chareidi youth place them under “bitter and severe trials,” increasing the risk that some will ultimately enlist. For that reason, it says, legislation eliminating arrests is essential. In particularly harsh language, the Yated accuses Agudas Yisroel of exacerbating the crisis and of having the audacity to blame “the leading sages of the generation who are working to save the entire Torah world.”
The paper concludes by demanding that opponents support any law that removes arrests from the equation. Once such legislation is passed, it argues, each community’s leadership would be free to instruct its followers to continue resisting the army, reject deferments, sever all contact with military authorities, and publicly declare that they do not fear arrest.
The Israeli Yated has no connection to the American newspaper that goes by the same name.
{Matzav.com}
