Haredi leader threatens 'unprecedented global fight' against IDF recruitment

Rabbi Dov Lando, spiritual leader of the Degel HaTorah party, a faction of United Torah Judaism, accused the Israeli government of "declaring war on yeshiva students" after the arrest of two Orthodox military draft evaders. "Orthodox Judaism will engage in a global struggle like never before," his spokesman said. At a rabbinical conference in Bnei Brak, Lando warned that if authorities continued to arrest students for draft evasion, the haredi community "will shake the world with all its might." He denounced an attack on the very soul of the community, promising a unified response from the various Orthodox subgroups.