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I Fully Support Haredim — But They Must Find a Way to Contribute to Israel’s Defense
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
Two weeks ago, I was on stage at the Saban Theater in Los Angeles for a major Keren Olam HaTorah event. Rabbi Dov Lando and other senior Israeli yeshiva leaders joined about 40 to 50 local rabbis, and approximately 1,500 Haredim from across LA filled the hall.
The event’s goal was to raise urgently needed funds for full-time Torah learners in Israel. Their government stipends have been cut, and now they are struggling to afford basic necessities.
Let me be clear: those families need help. Their poverty is not “self-inflicted.” They’re part of a system that leaves almost no room for dissent. Anyone who deviates — even slightly — risks social ostracism.
And, to be fair, most Haredim in Israel sincerely believe they are engaged in the holiest project a Jew can undertake: sustaining the world through Torah study. Their idealism is real, their devotion is genuine — and their commitment is breathtaking.
And American Haredim have responded with remarkable generosity. Over $100 million in private donations has flowed to these Israeli families from the United States.
A few days after the L.A. event, Jerusalem saw the so-called “million-man protest” against Haredi conscription.
Hundreds of thousands of Haredim from across Israel gathered to oppose efforts to draft them into the IDF. Sadly, the protest ended in tragedy when a young man fell to his death from an unfinished high-rise.
The protest’s message was clear: we will not enlist or take part – this is not our fight.
But here is the core issue: Haredim cannot expect to live in and benefit from a country facing real threats without also sharing responsibility for its defense and future.
That approach may have worked when the Haredi community was tiny. It does not work when Haredim make up nearly 14% of Israel’s population and are growing exponentially.
And it does not work when the country is at war and manpower is stretched, and you go about your lives as if the country is not at war, while relying on IDF soldiers and the Iron Dome to protect you.
And it certainly does not work when every other sector — secular, religious-Zionist, traditional, even new immigrants — sends its children off to defend the nation.
Haredim claim, not unjustifiably, that Israel is the land of Jewish heritage and therefore they are entitled to live there, whether or not they serve.
But Haredim didn’t flock to Eretz Yisrael under the Ottomans or the British. It was no less “the land of Jewish heritage” then.
Haredim began to come in large numbers — and continue to do so — only once there was a Jewish state. They are right to come. Israel is the greatest blessing for the Jewish people in two thousand years. And let’s be frank — had Israel not prevailed in 1948, and the Arabs had won, there would almost certainly not be a thriving Haredi community in Eretz Yisrael today.
Which means — labels aside — Haredim are part of the Zionist story, whether they embrace the word or not. They may not sing Hatikvah or fly the Israeli flag, but they chose the state, and they benefit from it in countless ways.
And let’s say this out loud: no one has ever supported Torah study in all of Jewish history more than the State of Israel. Not even close. Tens of billions of shekels over decades — buildings, stipends, housing allowances, childcare subsidies, food aid programs, and more.
Haredim will tell you, sometimes indignantly, that the support was given reluctantly. Maybe so. But the broader reality remains: if someone pays your bills for decades, reluctance doesn’t erase support. And if you benefit from a state’s stability, security, hospitals, emergency services, roads, schools, and subsidies, you are a stakeholder, whether or not you wave a flag on Yom Ha’atzmaut.
So while Haredim don’t call themselves Zionists, they do live in Israel by choice. They rely on Israel’s institutions. They expect Israel to protect them. Functionally, they are part of the Zionist project.
Which leads to an uncomfortable truth: a community that demands support and respect while signaling indifference to Israel’s broader challenges should not be shocked when such respect is not forthcoming.
Most Israelis don’t hate Torah, nor do they reject the idea of full-time Torah study. But they do hate feeling like suckers. Watching their children serve — and sometimes die — while others march declaring “this is not our army” is painful. It breeds resentment.
Recent statistics reveal that around 75% of Israeli families have at least one child serving in the military, highlighting the widespread burden of military service. This stark contrast between those serving and those who declare their disconnection from the army becomes a tangible source of tension.
And resentment, left unchecked, becomes anger, and eventually a division so deep it threatens the foundations of the state.
To be fair, the blame does not sit solely on one side. There is enormous prejudice toward Haredim in Israel — ignorance, mockery, at times outright hostility — and it’s destructive. But here’s the trick, and it’s hard for everyone: if you want others to respect your contribution, you need to acknowledge theirs.
Torah protects. We believe that. But soldiers protect, too. Medics protect. Pilots protect. Intelligence analysts protect. Volunteers who pull bodies from rubble protect. Israel’s safety is not theoretical — it’s literal.
Our sages taught us not to rely on miracles. The concept of hishtadlut alongside emunah — effort alongside faith — aligns our spiritual devotion with the practical needs of defense. The spiritual battlefield matters, and so does the physical one. It cannot just be someone else’s problem. It’s everyone’s problem.
Thankfully, things are shifting. Quietly, beneath the noise, something else is happening. Not mass enlistment and not ideological surrender, but something subtler — and perhaps more profound. In a move unimaginable a few years ago, the Belzer Rebbe has backed a pilot IDF track for married Hasidim from his sect, the second-largest Hasidic group in Israel.
About 150 men are already in. They serve in noncombat roles — intelligence, communications, logistics — and they return home nightly, remaining full-fledged Haredim in every way. They don’t carry guns, they don’t do basic training — but they are inside the IDF framework. The program even includes pre-academic training and technician or engineering diplomas.
Let’s not underestimate what this represents. It isn’t surrender, and it isn’t capitulation. It is a bridge — modest for now, tentative perhaps, but real. And like all bridges, it begins with a small span, just enough to show that two sides can, in fact, meet somewhere in the middle. The Belzer Rebbe isn’t waving a flag. He’s opening a door.
And perhaps, just perhaps, this is a glimpse of the Jewish future we need: a future where Torah remains uncompromised and civic duty is not ignored. The million-man march may have mattered this week, but history may well remember far more the quiet courage of those 150 Belzer Hasidim who chose a different path. With God’s help, that is the future awaiting the Haredim of Israel.
The author is a rabbi in Beverly Hills, California.
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Robin Kelly, running for Senate in Illinois, says Israel committed ‘genocide’
(JTA) — An Illinois congresswoman who is running for U.S. Senate said during a debate Thursday night that she believed Israel committed a genocide in Gaza, in the latest sign of a sea change in Democratic sentiment about Israel.
“It may not have started off being like that, but I believe that is what it turned into,” said Rep. Robin Kelly, who is running to replace the retiring Sen. Dick Durbin.
Following the debate, Kelly took to X to hammer the point that neither Lieutenant Gov. Juliana Stratton nor Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi were willing to match her accusation.
“Every candidate on stage tonight had the opportunity to condemn genocide in Gaza,” she wrote. “I’m the only one who did.”
The debate came a month after Scott Wiener, the Jewish politician running to replace Rep. Nancy Pelosi in California, drew fire after initially declining to answer a debate question about whether Israel committed genocide in Gaza, then said he had decided it had.
It also came just a year after Kelly received a donation from AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby — then adopted more critical stances on Israel since declaring her Senate candidacy last May.
The three candidates’ responses to the question about Gaza underscored just how present Israel remains in electoral politics months after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire sent the two-year-old Israel-Hamas war into a new era. During the war, Democratic voters’ approval of Israel plummeted to the single digits, according to some polls, and an array of politicians who had never before been vocal critics of Israel adopted harshly critical stances.
Kelly has traveled to Israel multiple times on congressional delegations and sought to curry support within the Chicago Jewish community in the past. Now, as she carves out a position among the three frontrunners in the Senate race as the one most critical of Israel, her success in the primary could be a measure of how heavily Democratic voters are weighing the issue.
None of the candidates offered a straightforwardly pro-Israel view on the debate floor. Asked whether she would support Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s resolution to recognize “the genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza,” Stratton said that “the devastation and suffering that we have seen is terrible” and that “we must do everything we can” to provide humanitarian aid to Gazans.
Krishnamoorthi said he is concerned that people are “extremely divided” in determining “what exactly happened.”
“My concern is this: division getting in the way of progress right now in this fragile ceasefire,” he said. “If that gets in the way of progress, then we’re going to go back to war. And we can’t let that happen.”
Kelly added that she had not actually read Tlaib’s resolution. “But as I just said, I think it was genocide,” she said.
Kelly first took office in 2013. Since announcing her Senate run last year, she has adopted harsher stances on Israel.
In August, she said she would have voted in favor of a pair of Bernie Sanders-led resolutions in the Senate that would block certain arms sales to Israel. And in the House, Kelly cosponsored the Block the Bombs Act that would withhold the transfer of offensive weapons to Israel.
“Israelis and Palestinians must work to secure a path forward where both peoples can live in peace, safety and security,” Kelly said in a statement at the time regarding Sanders’ resolutions. “I have supported Israel, but in this moment, I cannot in good conscience defend starving young children and prolonging the suffering of innocent families. Now is the time for moral leadership in the U.S. Senate.”
At a candidates’ forum in October, several candidates referred to Israel’s campaign in Gaza as a “genocide,” the Daily Northwestern reported.
Kelly was not among them. But she pledged during the forum that she would not accept funds from AIPAC. That was a new position for Kelly, who accepted contributions from AIPAC’s PAC in March and April 2025, according to FEC filings. She was endorsed by the liberal pro-Israel group J Street in her 2024 reelection campaign.
At the forum, Stratton was the only candidate who recognized the upcoming two-year anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Stratton and Krishnamoorthi did not swear off AIPAC contributions.
The Democratic primary, set for March 17, is seen as a three-person race among Kelly, Stratton and Krishnamoorthi. Kelly has garnered endorsements from a number of politicians including Sens. Cory Booker and Chris Murphy. Stratton’s endorsements include Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, while Krishnamoorthi has been endorsed by Bill Daley, who was Obama’s White House chief of staff, and a number of state and U.S. representatives.
Unlike a handful of House elections in the state, this race has not seen any reported spending by pro-Israel groups including AIPAC or its super PAC, the United Democracy Project. Jewish Insider reported last year that votes from Chicagoland’s sizable Jewish community are “up for grabs” because no candidate has particularly deep ties to the community.
Kelly has previously traveled to Israel as a member of Congress. In 2016, Kelly met with leaders from Chicago’s Jewish United Fund and Jewish Community Relations Council to discuss her trip, which was her second to Israel. “She backs a two-state solution and supports Israel’s ongoing security needs,” the JUF wrote after the meeting.
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China Signals Increased Support for Iran as US Prepares Potential Strike
An Iranian newspaper with a cover photo of an Iranian missile, in Tehran, Iran, Feb. 19, 2026. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
As the United States ramps up its military presence in the Persian Gulf amid rising tensions over Iran’s nuclear program, a symbolic move by China has fueled speculation that Beijing could arm Tehran with cutting-edge stealth aircraft, potentially challenging the US and Israel’s regional dominance.
Last week, a Chinese military attaché in Tehran — a senior official handling defense and military relations — presented Brigadier General Bahman Behmard, commander of the Iranian Air Force, with a scale model of China’s J-20 stealth fighter.
Even though no official contract has been announced, experts interpreted the Chinese gesture as a sharp warning to the US and close ally Israel amid mounting fears of renewed conflict in the Middle East.
If China were to supply fifth-generation jets to Iran, it would not only strengthen Tehran’s deterrence but also break Beijing’s previous stance of neutrality and limited diplomatic support, signaling a direct challenge to US sanctions.
However, it remains unclear whether China actually intends to sell the J-20 to Iran or if presenting its mockup was meant mainly to signal Washington that Beijing is prepared to support Tehran politically, technologically, and otherwise militarily.
While China has publicly urged de-escalation and restraint from both sides in the US-Iran dispute, its latest symbolic move sends a stark signal that Beijing may be prepared to directly challenge US influence in the region.
China’s advanced AI-driven satellites could also give Tehran a strategic advantage by providing the regime with precise intelligence on US military assets in the region, the Eurasian Times reported.
After repeated attempts at nuclear talks between the US and Iran have failed to yield meaningful results, Washington has deployed large numbers of troops and assets to the region in a bid to pressure Tehran back to the negotiating table more willing to make concessions.
With at least a dozen F-22s from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia and F-16s from bases in Italy, Germany, and South Carolina deployed to the Gulf, along with a significant fleet of fighter, surveillance, and intelligence aircraft, the US is marking the fastest military buildup in the region seen over the past month.
According to media reports, F-35 jets from the United Kingdom are also headed to Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan — a recent hub of US air operations — while a dozen US Navy warships are already active in the area.
Meanwhile, the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, entered the Mediterranean Sea on Friday, joining the USS Abraham Lincoln and the attendant ships that form its carrier strike group.
Advanced air defenses and radar systems have also been deployed to the region to help counter a potential Iranian response to any US military action.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Friday he expected to have a draft counterproposal ready within days following nuclear talks with the US this week.
US President Donald Trump said he was considering a limited military strike on Iran but gave no further details.
Asked if he was considering such a strike to pressure Iran into a deal on its nuclear program, Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday, “I guess I can say I am considering” it.
The US president was asked later about Iran at a White House press conference and added, “They better negotiate a fair deal.”
Two US officials told Reuters that American military planning on Iran has reached an advanced stage, with options including targeting individuals as part of an attack and even pursuing leadership change in Tehran.
Amid mounting regional tensions, Washington could launch military strikes as soon as Saturday, CBS News reported.
On Thursday, Trump warned that the Islamist regime must reach a “meaningful deal” in its negotiations with the White House within the next 10-15 days, or “bad things will happen.”
US and Israeli officials have argued that a deal should go beyond Iran’s nuclear program and include limits on its ballistic missiles and a cessation of support for terrorist groups across the Middle East. Iranian officials have said that both issues are firm red lines and that they only seek to strike a deal over the country’s nuclear program, although Tehran has publicly rejected a US demand of forgoing all enrichment of uranium.
In the past, particularly during last June’s 12-day war when the US and Israel struck the Iranian regime’s nuclear facilities, China — despite being a close ally and strategic partner of Iran — remained notably on the sidelines, offering only diplomatic support and statements of condemnation rather than any tactical or material assistance.
A key diplomatic and economic backer of Tehran, China has moved to deepen ties with the regime in recent years, signing a 25-year cooperation agreement, holding joint naval drills, and continuing to purchase Iranian oil despite US sanctions.
China is also the largest importer of Iranian oil, with nearly 90 percent of Iran’s crude and condensate exports going to Beijing.
Last week, the two allies — along with Russia — took part in the Maritime Security Belt 2026 joint naval drills in the Strait of Hormuz, delivering yet another symbolic show of force as regional tensions climb.
According to some media reports, China may be even helping Iran rebuild its decimated air defenses following last year’s 12-day war.
The Iranian regime has reportedly acquired China’s HQ-9B long-range surface-to-air missile systems and YLC-8B radar units, along with thousands of tons of sodium perchlorate, a chemical used to produce fuel for solid-propellant mid-range ballistic missiles.
Iran’s growing ties with China come at a time when Tehran faces mounting economic sanctions from Western powers, while Beijing itself is also under US sanctions.
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Isaiah Zagar, renowned Jewish mosaic artist who created Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens, dies at 86
(JTA) — Isaiah Zagar, the famed Jewish mosaic artist whose shimmering, kaleidoscopic installations transformed streets and buildings across Philadelphia and founded the city’s Magic Gardens, has died.
Zagar died on Thursday of complications from heart failure and Parkinson’s disease at his home in Philadelphia. He was 86.
“The scale of Isaiah Zagar’s body of work and his relentless artmaking at all costs is truly astounding,” Emily Smith, the executive director of the Magic Gardens, told The Philadelphia Inquirer. “Most people do not yet understand the importance of what he created, nor do they understand the sheer volume of what he has made.”
Born Irwin Zagar in Philadelphia in 1939, Zagar grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where he received his bachelor’s in painting and graphics at the Pratt Institute of Art. “When you’re a Jew growing up in Brooklyn, they don’t name you Isaiah,” he told the Philadelphia Inquirer in 1980. “They name you Ira, or Irving or Irwin.”
In 1959, when Zagar was 19, he received a summer art scholarship to go to Woodstock, New York, where he encountered the works of famed “outside artist” Clarence Schmidt who would later become his mentor. During that summer, he also studied Jewish religious texts which later inspired him to change his first name to Isaiah, according to the Daily Mail.
In 1963, Zagar met artist Julia Zagar and the pair were married three months later and joined the Peace Corps as conscientious objectors to the Vietnam War.
Zagar and his wife moved to South Philadelphia in 1968, where she opened the Eye’s Gallery on South Street and he created his first art installation by embellishing the building’s facade.
Over the following decades, Zagar used broken tiles, mirrors and bottles to adorn roughly 50,000 square feet of walls and buildings across Philadelphia with his iconic mosaic art. In the late 1990s, transformed two empty lots near his South Philadelphia home into an immersive mosaic and sculpture installation that would later become the iconic Magic Gardens.
Zagar’s works are featured in the permanent collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. More than 200 of his mosaic pieces can also be found across several states and in Mexico and Chile.
In 2008, Zagar’s son, the filmmaker Jeremiah Zagar, released the documentary “In a Dream,” an intimate portrait of his father’s struggles with mental health and drive to build the Magic Gardens. He worked with a producer whom he met while in Hebrew class at the Jewish day school now known as Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy, according to a 2022 profile in the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent.
“Isaiah was more than our founder; he was our close friend, teacher, collaborator, and creative inspiration,” wrote the Magic Gardens in a post on Facebook. “He was unlike anyone we have ever met and will ever meet. Above all things, he was an artist. In his lifetime, he created a body of work that is unique and remarkable, and one that has left an everlasting mark on our city.”
Zagar is survived by his wife and two sons, Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
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