Haredi leader Rabbi Dov Lando, 96, faces backlash over recorded attack on Zionism

Rabbi Dov Lando, among the most senior figures in Israel's ultra-Orthodox community, is heard in footage broadcast on Monday by Channel 12 news saying it would have been preferable had the State of Israel never been established and had Jews remained under the Mandate. According to a summary posted by journalist Amit Segal, crediting Channel 12 reporter Eli Hirschman, Lando also said that Religious Zionist soldiers are being killed because of a twisted Torah. The Times of Israel reported that the network said the video was recorded roughly a year and a half ago, and described it as possibly his broadest condemnation yet of the state and of most of its Jewish citizens.

Opposition politicians responded sharply. Ynet reported that Lando, in the recording, accused Religious Zionists of causing Arab hatred toward Jews and said their soldiers die because their rabbis teach a distorted Torah. Gadi Eisenkot called the comments words of venom and said the Netanyahu government depends on such voices, while Naftali Bennett called them a shame and a disgrace and said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands behind the rabbi, according to Ynet. The Jerusalem Post also reported criticism from Israeli leaders, focused on what was said about fallen Religious Zionist soldiers.

Who Rabbi Lando is

Lando, 96, is the spiritual leader of Degel HaTorah, one of the factions that make up the United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party, according to The Times of Israel. Segal described him as the leader of the Lithuanian public, a reference to the non-Hasidic stream of Haredi, or ultra-Orthodox, Judaism, whose rabbinic authorities guide its political representatives. Photographs published alongside the coverage show him in Bnei Brak, a largely Haredi city near Tel Aviv.

His influence extends well beyond religious life. The Times of Israel noted that because UTJ is a central partner in Netanyahu's coalition, Lando's positions have shaped the debate over legislation on military service for Haredi men, which he strongly opposes, and have affected the stability of the government. Ynet likewise described his Degel HaTorah representatives as a core part of the bloc supporting Netanyahu.

Why the remarks drew this response

Religious Zionism is the stream of Orthodox Judaism that treats the State of Israel as religiously significant and encourages its members to serve in the army, including in combat units. That places it in long-running tension with Haredi leaders who reject Zionism as an ideology and oppose conscription for yeshiva students. The Mandate Lando referred to is the period of British rule over the territory before Israel's founding.

Ynet noted that the remarks attacked Religious Zionism while the country was at war, a point that sharpened the reaction because soldiers from that community are among those killed in the fighting. Critics framed the statements as anti-Zionist, and The Times of Israel reported that some opposition figures also called them antisemitic and pointed to Lando's long relationship with Netanyahu.

The Times of Israel also observed that Lando has criticised Religious Zionists and the state on earlier occasions, so the sentiment itself is not new. What distinguished this footage, in that outlet's account, was its breadth.

Is the footage new?

The reports do not agree on this. The Times of Israel described the video as newly released. Ynet, by contrast, said the remarks had been published a second time. News.co.il, citing commentator Avi Moskov, went further, saying Bennett had already reacted to the very same recordings about half a year earlier and was now responding as though they were fresh. None of the reports reconcile these accounts, and it is not clear whether Channel 12 aired previously unseen material, a longer version of known clips, or footage that had circulated before.

What the reports do not say

The material does not include any response from Lando, from Degel HaTorah, from UTJ or from Netanyahu's office. It does not say where or in what setting the rabbi was recorded, or who made the recording. The full wording of his remarks is not available in the reports, which summarise them in brief, and the Jerusalem Post account is available only in part. The reports also do not indicate whether the controversy has had any effect on coalition politics or on the legislation concerning Haredi military service.