Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch's Troops Throw Rocks at Innocent Vehicles and Stop the Light Rail

 

Rav Hirsch and on his left a poster that has a photo of the Draft Dodger with the "hostage emblem 

Rav Hirsch’s Troops: A New Chapter in Charedi Protest Culture

The mask of "moderation" has officially slipped.

Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, long regarded as a more measured voice within the Litvishe Charedi world, has now publicly aligned himself with the Peleg faction—whose protests have repeatedly disrupted public life across Israel. 

In a recent address at Prison 10, Rav Hirsch declared that “if there’s no choice, the entire Torah community will join” the demonstrations. With that, the Peleg activists—once seen as fringe—can now be dubbed “Rav Hirsch’s Troops.”

This marks a dramatic shift in tone and strategy. Rav Hirsch, together with Rav Dov Landau, has called for a nationwide protest this coming Sunday. The rally is expected to draw tens of thousands and cause massive disruptions around the entire country, with violence expected, in response to the arrests of yeshiva students who refuse to enlist in the IDF.

Meanwhile, Rav Dov Landau is currently in the United States on a fundraising tour for Keren Olam HaTorah. His arrival by private jet has raised eyebrows, especially since Torah Institutions claim that they are running out of money. 

The optics are striking: one leader rallying the masses to take to the streets, the other flying across the globe in a private jet to raise millions. Both moves reflect a coordinated push to resist government pressure and assert that "they would rather die than enlist" yet don't want them in prison either. The draft dodgers want to "die" but their rabbis who painted themselves in a corner and now feel responsible for their reckless actions that caused their students to sit in jail, now want them released. 

Whether this new alignment will strengthen the Charedi position or deepen internal divisions remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: the era of quiet diplomacy is over. The battle lines are being redrawn—and Rav Hirsch’s troops are mobilizing, and so are those frum Torah abiding Jews who feel that well-fed, eligible boys must enlist! 

Jerusalem gridlocked: anti-draft chareidim block Bar-Lev, halt light rail, hurl stones

Crowds of radical Charedi protesters shut down Bar-Lev Road in Jerusalem and obstructed sections of the light-rail line, with some pelting passing cars with stones, according to police. Service was curtailed between Giv’at HaMivtar and City Hall and traffic across the corridor snarled.  

Jerusalem District Police and Border Police moved in to clear the artery. 

“Freedom of protest will be upheld within the law, but violent disturbances that endanger the public will not be tolerated,” the police said, as officers dispersed stone-throwers and reopened segments of the route.  

The unrest follows overnight arrests of yeshiva draft-dodgers, which sparked coordinated demonstrations in multiple cities; in parallel actions, protesters also blocked light-rail tracks and key roads.