JERUSALEM (VINnews) — A fascinating clip which appeared on I24 news cast a spotlight on the dilemma now faced by charedim: Should they cut off ties entirely with the state of Israel in order to continue to maintain their lifestyle? Should they adopt the Satmar method and divest themselves from all state support?
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Reporter Ari Kalman described both methods in his report: The approach of the Chazon Ish and other great rabbis who promoted cooperation with the new state of Israel in order to reach a modus vivendi allowing for charedim and for the yeshivos to flourish. This method enabled the yeshivos to receive state support for the last 75 years while continuing to maintain their independence and unique lifestyle.
הציבור החרדי ניצב בצומת דרכים קריטית: מתווה ״תורתו אומנותו״ קרס, הישיבות נותרו ללא תקציבים.
האם ״השיטה הקדושה״ של סאטמר היא זו שתפתור את הכאוס בין החרדים למדינה? | צפו בכתבה— ארי קלמן | Ari Kalman (@aronkalman1) August 25, 2025
With the current impasse regarding a draft law and the tens of thousands of draft notices issued even to those studying full time, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the heads of the charedi community to pursue cooperation with the state, which has stressed that it demands reciprocity for funding the yeshivos and is bent on sharply increasing charedi enlistment goals as part of the proposed law.
The untenable situation, where yeshiva students and other charedi youth fear arrest by military police, has led many to consider adopting the Satmar method of Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum zts’l, which eschews all form of cooperation with the state and fiercely maintains the independence of its institutions by not accepting any form of state funding. This has enabled its yeshivos to flourish and to grow, and in recent years they have been joined by the Lithuanian Jerusalem Faction, which has adopted the ideology of militant opposition to state attempts to influence charedi society.
Recently, Satmar mega donor Yoeli Landau visited Israel, officially for the yahrzeit of the rebbe but also to attempt to encourage more factions in the charedi world to adopt the Satmar method and relinquish all of their state funding. Landau promised that Satmar’s philanthropists will be able to provide alternative funding to keep the Torah institutions running.
Despite this, charedi MKs stress that the time has not yet come to divest from the state support of Torah, although they admit that if tactically this will enable more Torah study, the Lithuanian gedolim will also support such a change.
Is Yoeli Landau paying for promoting him?? Stop the propaganda.
The war in Gaza will hopefully be over soon & the government will no claim to need Chareidi enlistment. Regardless, you cannot force an unwilling population to fight for you. The optics aren’t pretty, but Chareidi Jewry doesn’t run on public opinion; it runs on Daas Torah.
Things were going well under the Tal Law that allowed for a special track for Haredim to sign up for military service and receive the neccesary accomodations while allowing other parts of the population to study torah. This resulted in a large increase of Haredim serving in the military. But then the Lefty AG petitioned the Lefty Supreme Court to not allow for special accomodations for the Haredim as this goes against the rule of Equality. As you can see, its all politics.
I don’t understand. They will arrest Satmar too. What does it matter ?
Total separation means no kupat cholim,no government hospitals,roads,border police,child subsidies,family stipends,pensions,government jobs,garbage collections,building code safety enforcement,army etc.
Till the so called peleg and satmar provide those services they are zionists like everyone else.i have my doubts.
The Brisker and Satmarer should also build their own hospitals, roads that way they will not depend on the Zionists.
The members of the Satmar community still benefit from the IDF even if they don’t accept funding from the state. The state can go after everyone who lives there.
The Chazon Ish, who I am related to, was friends with Ben Gurion from their youth in Europe, and they agreed to a deferment cap of 400 people to sit and learn. This was working well. In 1977 Menachem Begin lifted the cap as part of the coalition deal with the religious parties so that he can form a government
Not everyone that is supposed to be seating and learning all day should be, and a lot do not. For those who are do not have the capacity to be a gadol ba torah, there is no reason not to serve in some capacity. Most young people don’t want to be warriors, understandable, but serve in some other capacity, there is no torah prohibition and if it is a milchama reshut or milchama mitzvah it is an obligation!
Rabbi Yoel was right.
“charedi MKs stress that the time has not yet come to divest from the state support”. oh, really? because that would mean no more political clout for them, and, of course, no more knesset salary (and the other financial benefits).
The Satmar method works well in the USA where the nation is not threatened by savage terrorists at it’s borders and there is no compulsory conscription. Even so you don’t need a very long memory to remember the crises a year or two ago when the leftist Board of Education on New York were threatening to shut down the Yishivos and imprison parents who declined a basic secular education for their kids. There is no comparison between Satmar in America and the Haredi in Eretz Yisroel. In Israel the Satmarers have been basically riding on the Backs of those who eschew Zionism but cooperate with the state to get money. After all, you cannot sit and learn on nothing. Even producing babies year after year costs money.
Even more important to keep patronizing our מדינת ישראל ראשית צמיחת גאולתנו & even more important to keep voting at Israeli elections & WZO elections
In America so many Frum Yidden are against the “welfare state” for others (Blacks, etc). But in HaEretz its ok to sponge without serving.