An ultra-Orthodox organization connected to some of the community’s top rabbinic leaders, which until last year enjoyed millions of shekels in annual government funding, has been actively advising yeshiva students to ignore enlistment orders, a Times of Israel investigation has found.

Prior to last year’s High Court ruling that the government must draft ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students, the Vaad HaYeshivot (Yeshiva Committee) was the Haredi community’s primary vehicle for coordination between ultra-Orthodox yeshivas and the Defense Ministry in matters of service deferments.

Its board is a who’s who of prominent Haredi figures, including Rabbi Dov Lando, a senior rabbinic leader of the non-Hasidic Degel Hatorah faction of the coalition’s United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party.

However, since the court’s decision, the prominent organization seems to have changed tack, moving from coordinating legal deferments to endorsing draft dodging, according to the testimonies of ultra-Orthodox men who reached out to the Yeshiva Committee for advice after receiving call-up notices from the IDF.

“They told me as of now not to do anything,” said Yehezkel, an ultra-Orthodox man who asked to be identified by a pseudonym due to the sensitivity of the matter.

“I asked them what to do and they said that according to the instructions of the Gedolei Yisrael [sages of Israel — the community’s senior rabbinic leadership] I shouldn’t do anything,” he recalled. “Don’t show up, don’t answer, don’t respond.”

Another member of the community, who likewise asked to remain anonymous, received the following email in response to his query:

“The guidance of the sages is unchanged: Do not report under any circumstances and do not cooperate. Of course, according to the law, there is an obligation to report, but these are the instructions of the sages… [you are] not alone and many yeshiva students are in the exact same situation in this matter.”

According to Guidestar, a center that provides information on nonprofit organizations in Israel, the Yeshiva Committee has long enjoyed government backing. In 2023, it received NIS 4,463,806 ($1.2 million) in state funding, totaling 67.4 percent of its annual budget.

A spokesperson for the Education Ministry, which provided the funding, told The Times of Israel that the Yeshiva Committee has not received any money since the High Court’s ruling on Haredi enlistment in June.

Despite this, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ultra-Orthodox coalition partners appear to be pushing for a resumption of........

© The Times of Israel