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The Importance of Nahal Haredi, Now More Than Ever
Haredi Jewish men look at the scene of an explosion at a bus stop in Jerusalem, Israel, on Nov. 23, 2022. Photo: Reuters/Ammar Awad
Last month, amidst all the to-ing and fro-ing across Israel, our solidarity mission from Los Angeles spent a couple of hours at an important event on Rechov Uruguay, a quiet leafy street in the Kiryat HaYovel neighborhood of Jerusalem.
Rechov Uruguay is just one of the many streets in Kiryat HaYovel named for countries that voted at the U.N. in November 1947 in favor of partitioning Palestine – a landmark vote that paved the way for the creation of Israel six months later.
But we were not on Rechov Uruguay to commemorate an event from history. Rather, we were there to celebrate the formal opening of an apartment for soldiers of the Netzach Yehuda division of the IDF, better known as Nahal Haredi.
This past Yom Kippur, just a couple of weeks before the tragic events of October 7th, our synagogue in Beverly Hills held an appeal to raise money to pay for this apartment, and now we were there to dedicate it. The event was attended by a range of dignitaries, but truthfully, they were eclipsed by another aspect of the ceremony that took center stage.
On the morning of October 7th, Haredi soldier Sergeant Binyamin Lev heard about the Hamas terrorist incursion into Southern Israel, and immediately rushed to the town of Sderot, together with his colleagues, to eliminate the threat against Israelis. Hours later he was dead, felled by terrorist bullets.
Sergeant Lev was 23 years old. The apartment on Rechov Uruguay was being dedicated in his memory, with the participation of his commanding officers and his family. It was an event that will remain with me for as long as I live.
Sergeant Lev’s story is incredibly inspiring. He was born into a Chabad family in Paris, one of 8 children. A couple of years ago, out of the blue, he decided to move to Israel and join the Israeli army as a lone soldier, much like our own son Meir, who did the same a year earlier.
Meir told us that he helped Binyamin join the same unit was in – Haredim Tzanchanim, or “Chetz”, a unique paratrooper unit entirely made up of boys from Haredi families.
Binyamin excelled in his military tasks, but he also clung tenaciously to strict Jewish observance, totally devoted to his traditions and family customs. At the dedication event, Binyamin’s grandfather, a gentle-looking, white-bearded Chabad hasid, took out a guitar and sang Binyamin’s favorite song. The words of the song were a verse from scripture.
We all wept as we sang along with him and clapped our hands to the beat. Meir was particularly moved; he attended Binyamin’s funeral in October, and now he was at this dedication event. It brought it home for him, and for us – the real price our people paid on October 7th was on vivid display, personalized and stark.
But truthfully, neither Binyamin nor Meir are typical of the Nahal Haredi recruits. Most Haredim who join the strictly Orthodox units of the IDF come from families that shun them for the choice they’ve made, or at best tolerate them while making clear that active military duty is not okay. Some families tell their soldier sons never to appear in their Haredi neighborhoods in uniform, in case this triggers hostility and causes the family problems.
Incredibly, there are even Haredi families with sons in the army have been forced out of their communities for having broken ranks with their Haredi compatriots. This is why Nahal Haredi needs these apartments, so that their soldiers have got somewhere to live when they are off duty.
This negative attitude by Haredim all stems from a pivotal decision in 1948 by Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben Gurion, to exempt yeshiva students from conscription. This policy, known as the ‘Torato Umanuto’ (“His Torah is His Profession”) exemption, was initially intended to apply to a small number of students to allow for the continuation of Jewish religious scholarship that was devastated by the Holocaust.
At the time, the exemption was relevant to an estimated 400 students, but the numbers have grown significantly. In recent years, reports indicate that the number of exemptions granted annually to yeshiva students has reached into many tens of thousands – the result of an exponential growth of the Haredi sector in Israel.
In 1963, Ben Gurion expressed regret for the blanket exemption in a letter to Levi Eshkol, but he was no longer in power and the exemption numbers continued to grow, long after post-Holocaust concerns had been mitigated by the incredible growth in quantity and quality of yeshiva scholarship. As a result, the ‘Torato Umanuto’ exemption has become a source of endless contention and discord in Israeli society.
Until October 7th, societal norms were such that tensions between Haredim and the rest of Israel regarding the broad refusal by Haredim to take part in defending Israel from military and terrorist threats by participating in national service had evolved into the familiar discourse of a special interest group refusing to consider any kind of alternative narrative.
Nahal Haredi – formed in 1999 to accommodate the needs of Haredi soldiers not suited to yeshiva study – simply got caught in the crosshairs of this epic ideological battle. For all intents and purposes, the concept of Nahal Haredi died on the vine, as it lacked the kind of meaningful support from Haredi rabbinic and political leadership that would have ensured broad success. Those Haredi boys who did enlist – unless they came from abroad as lone soldiers – found themselves shunned and marginalized, as did their families.
But the shock of October 7th and the war that has been raging ever since has shifted the paradigm considerably. Last week, Israel’s Interior Minister, Moshe Arbel of the Haredi Sephardic Shas party, reached out to Yossi Levy, CEO of Netzach Yehuda.
In his letter, later published by Yediot Ahronot, Arbel encouraged the integration of Haredim into meaningful, long-term military service. He particularly expressed his pleasure at the significant increase in interest among Haredi youth to enlist for combat service in the upcoming draft.
Arbel also told Levy how happy he is about the more than 800 new Haredi soldiers who have joined the IDF since October 7th. And in an interview, Arbel argued that it is totally indefensible for Haredim to claim exemption from military service simply because they are Haredim. Like all other Israeli citizens, they should serve, he told the interviewer, except for those who are genuinely engaged in full-time Torah study.
This shift is without question a welcome change, but it has yet to translate into full-throated support for Nahal Haredi by the recognized rabbinic hierarchy within the Haredi world. That support must come, as Israel and the Jewish people face the most challenging threats to their existence in recent history, and the IDF is poised to play a key role, in which the Haredi community have a stake that is no less significant than every other element of Israel’s Jewish population. We are all in this together, and no element of the Jewish world can afford to opt out of the task that lies ahead.
Currently, the Jewish world is reading the biblical portions that deal with the construction of the Tabernacle in the Sinai wilderness. Every Jew was expected to support the construction of this holy sanctuary.
The Midrash informs us that the princes of each tribe decided to wait until the end of the campaign to make their contribution, so that they could then fill in the gaps. But as it turned out, they messed up – the people were so enthused by the idea of supporting the project, that when it came to the turn of the princes, there was nothing left for them to give, an omission that forever remained a blot on their record.
Members of the Haredi community – of which I consider myself a product and proud member – have long considered themselves the princes of Jewish life. Sadly, this has meant that they have not been willing to contribute to the national effort to defend Israel, instead expecting everyone else to play their part while they remained on the sidelines.
That is not the right approach. Just like the tribes of Reuven and Gad, and half of Menashe, Haredim – who by their way of life represent the importance of preserving Jewish identity and tradition – should be first in line to defend Israel and the Jewish people on the battlefield.
The Torah instructs us (Lev. 19:16): “do not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor.” This law demands of every Jew that if someone is in danger, to save them and do anything to ensure their survival.
The Jewish people is in physical and existential danger from terrorists who are out to murder and destroy us. We need the Haredi soldiers now more than ever, to lead the charge against those who mean to kill and destroy us, and to uproot us from the land of our heritage and destiny.
And if the Haredi community comes on board and commits itself to defending our holy homeland, I have no doubt it will be the inspiration that will inevitably lead to the coming of the Messiah and the rebuilding of our Beit Hamikdash.
The author is a rabbi in Beverly Hills, California.
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US State Department Revokes Visas of UK Punk Rap Act Bob Vylan Amid Outrage Over Duo’s Chants of ‘Death to the IDF’

Bob Vylan music duo performance at Glastonbury Festival (Source: FLIKR)
The US State Department has revoked the visas for the English punk rap duo Bob Vylan amid ongoing outrage over their weekend performance at the Glastonbury Festival, in which the pair chanted “Death to the IDF.”
The State Department’s decision to cancel their visas would preclude a planned fall concert tour of the US by the British rappers.
“The [US State Department] has revoked the US visas for the members of the Bob Vylan band in light of their hateful tirade at Glastonbury, including leading the crowd in death chants. Foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country,” Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau wrote on X/Twitter on Monday.
During a June 28 set at Glastonbury Festival, Bob Vylan’s Pascal Robinson-Foster ignited a firestorm by leading the crowd in chants of “Death, death, to the IDF,” referring to the Israel Defense Forces. He also complained about working for a “f—ing Zionist” during the set.
The video of the performance went viral, sparking outrage across the globe.
The BBC, which streamed the performance live, issued an on‑screen warning but continued its broadcast, prompting criticism by government officials for failing to cut the feed.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer and festival organizers condemned the IDF chant as hate speech and incitement to violence. The Israeli Embassy in London denounced the language as “inflammatory and hateful.”
“Millions of people tuned in to enjoy Glastonbury this weekend across the BBC’s output but one performance within our livestreams included comments that were deeply offensive,” the BBC said in a statement following the event.
“These abhorrent chants, which included calls for the death of members of the Israeli Defense Forces … have no place in any civil society,” Leo Terrell, Chair of the US Department of Justice Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, declared Sunday in a statement posted on X.
Citing the act’s US tour plans, Terrell said his task force would be “reaching out to the U.S. Department of State on Monday to determine what measures are available to address the situation and to prevent the promotion of violent antisemitic rhetoric in the United States.”
British authorities, meanwhile, have launched a formal investigation into Bob Vylan’s controversial appearance at Glastonbury. Avon and Somerset Police confirmed they are reviewing footage and working with the Crown Prosecution Service to determine whether the performance constitutes a hate crime or incitement to violence.
United Talent Agency (UTA), one of the premier entertainment talent agencies, dropped the duo, claming “antisemitic sentiments expressed by the group were utterly unacceptable.”
The band defended their performance on social media as necessary protest, stating that “teaching our children to speak up for the change they want and need is the only way that we make this world a better place.”
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Dem House Leader Hakeem Jeffries Urges Mamdani to ‘Aggressively Address’ Antisemitism in NYC if Elected Mayor

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
US House Democratic leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (NY) urged Democratic nominee for mayor of New York Zohran Mamdani to “aggressively address the rise in antisemitism” if he wins the general election in November.
“‘Globalizing the intifada’ by way of example is not an acceptable phrasing,” Jeffries said Sunday on ABC’s This Week. “He’s going to have to clarify his position on that as he moves forward.”
“With respect to the Jewish communities that I represent, I think our nominee is going to have to convince folks that he is prepared to aggressively address the rise in antisemitism in the city of New York, which has been an unacceptable development,” he added.
Jeffries’s comments come as Mamdani has been receiving an onslaught of criticism for defending the controversial phrase “globalize the intifada.”
Mamdani first defended the phrase during an appearance on the popular Bulwark Podcast. The progressive firebrand stated that he feels “less comfortable with the banning of certain words.” He invoked the US Holocaust Museum in his defense, saying that the museum used the word intifada “when translating the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising into Arabic, because it’s a word that means ‘struggle.’”
The Holocaust Museum repudiated Mamdani in a statement, calling his comments “offensive.”
Mamdani has continued to defend the slogan despite ongoing criticism, arguing that pro-Palestine advocates perceive it as a call for “universal human rights.”
Mamdani, the 33‑year‑old state assembly member and proud democratic socialist, defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other candidates in a lopsided first‑round win in the city’s Democratic primary for mayor, notching approximately 43.5 percent of first‑choice votes compared to Cuomo’s 36.4 percent.
The election results have alarmed members of the local Jewish community, who expressed deep concern over his past criticism of Israel and defense of antisemitic rhetoric.
“Mamdani’s election is the greatest existential threat to a metropolitan Jewish population since the election of the notorious antisemite Karl Lueger in Vienna,” Rabbi Marc Schneier, one of the most prominent Jewish leaders in New York City, said in a statement. “Jewish leaders must come together as a united force to prevent a mass Jewish Exodus from New York City.”
Some key Democratic leaders in New York, such as US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Gov. Kathy Hochul, have congratulated and complimented Mamdani, but have not yet issued an explicit endorsement. Each official has signaled interest in meeting with Mamdani prior to making a decision on a formal endorsement.
The post Dem House Leader Hakeem Jeffries Urges Mamdani to ‘Aggressively Address’ Antisemitism in NYC if Elected Mayor first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Eyes Ties With Syria and Lebanon After Iran War

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar attends a press conference with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (not pictured) in Berlin, Germany, June 5, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Christian Mang
Israel is interested in establishing formal diplomatic relations with long-standing adversaries Syria and Lebanon, but the status of the Golan Heights is non-negotiable, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Monday.
Israeli leaders argue that with its rival Iran weakened by this month’s 12-day war, other countries in the region have an opportunity to forge ties with Israel.
The Middle East has been upended by nearly two years of war in Gaza, during which Israel also carried out airstrikes and ground operations in Lebanon targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah, and by the overthrow of former Syrian leader and Iran ally Bashar al-Assad.
In 2020, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco became the first Arab states to establish ties with Israel since Jordan in 1994 and Egypt in 1979. The normalization agreements with Israel were deeply unpopular in the Arab world.
“We have an interest in adding countries such as Syria and Lebanon, our neighbors, to the circle of peace and normalization, while safeguarding Israel‘s essential and security interests,” Saar said at a press conference in Jerusalem.
“The Golan will remain part of the State of Israel,” he said.
Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981 after capturing the territory from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War. While much of the international community regards the Golan as occupied Syrian land, US President Donald Trump recognized Israeli sovereignty over it during his first term in office.
Following Assad’s ousting, Israeli forces moved further into Syrian territory.
A senior Syrian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Syria would never give up the Golan Heights, describing it as an integral part of Syrian territory.
The official also said that normalization efforts with Israel must be part of the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative and not carried out through a separate track.
A spokesperson for Syria‘s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The 2002 initiative proposed Arab normalization with Israel in exchange for its withdrawal from territories including the Golan Heights, the West Bank, and Gaza. It also called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Throughout the war in Gaza, regional power Saudi Arabia has repeatedly said that establishing ties with Israel was conditional on the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
Israel‘s Saar said it was “not constructive” for other states to condition normalization on Palestinian statehood.
“Our view is that a Palestinian state will threaten the security of the State of Israel,” he said.
In May, Reuters reported that Israel and Syria‘s new Islamist rulers had established direct contact and held face-to-face meetings aimed at de-escalating tensions and preventing renewed conflict along their shared border.
The same month, US President Donald Trump announced the US would lift sanctions on Syria and met Syria‘s new president, urging him to normalize ties with Israel.
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