Coalition Spiritual Leader Publicly Rejects Zionism, Netanyahu Faces Dilemma on Eve of Election

Rabbi Dov Lando, the 96-year-old spiritual leader of Israel's ruling coalition, characterized Zionism in a recently leaked video as an ideology that had brought physical and spiritual "disaster" upon the Jewish people, and claimed that "Jews could live very well with Arabs even without a state." According to Al Jazeera, the video was made public less than three weeks before parliamentary elections, directly exposing the ideological fault lines behind Prime Minister Netanyahu's political dependence on ultra-Orthodox parties.

Lando is a leader of the Litvishe ultra-Orthodox Jewish community and heads a traditional yeshiva in Bnei Brak, Israel. He is a member of Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah, the ultra-Orthodox rabbinical guidance body, and serves as the spiritual leader of the Degel HaTorah party — the latter being a component of the United Torah Judaism (UTJ) alliance, of which UTJ is itself a member of Netanyahu's ruling coalition.

In the video, Lando said Zionism "made the Arabs hate us" and brought physical and spiritual "disaster" upon the Jewish people, and stated that international or Palestinian rule could have been "the best situation" for Jews. He was harsher toward soldiers who subscribe to Religious Zionism, saying they "were killed because their rabbis taught them a distorted Torah," and accusing many military operations of being conducted "not to save lives, but for the honor of the state." Of secular Israelis, Lando described them as having "nothing to do with Judaism" and as building "a state full of heresy and apostasy."

The remarks drew widespread condemnation across the Israeli political spectrum. Gadi Eizenkot, leader of the opposition party Yashar and a potential prime ministerial candidate, called Lando's "shameless remarks" the "embodiment of anti-Zionism." Knesset opposition leader Yair Lapid called them "a disgrace to every Jew." Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett described them as "anti-Semitic, anti-Zionist" and against the Israel Defense Forces.

Yair Golan, leader of the opposition Democrats party, directed his fire at Netanyahu himself, stating bluntly that "Netanyahu is silent because without Rabbi Lando and his envoys, he would not have a government," and accusing Netanyahu that "his political survival is more important to him than Zionism, more important than equality in service, more important than the blood of our soldiers."

Netanyahu has so far made no public statement on Lando's latest remarks. According to Al Jazeera, in July Lando accused the Religious Zionist movement of "incitement to murder" for supporting the conscription of yeshiva students, and Netanyahu publicly condemned him at that time. But with Lando's current attack targeting the ideology of Zionism itself, the dilemma facing Netanyahu is far more complex than in July.

Citing an Israeli Channel 12 poll from October 5, Al Jazeera reported that the United Torah Judaism alliance is projected to win eight Knesset seats in the October 27 election, while Netanyahu's broader coalition has a support level well below the 61-seat threshold needed to form a government. The ultra-Orthodox vote that Lando represents is critical to Netanyahu's prospects of assembling a government.

Israeli affairs researcher Ehab Jabareen summed up the dilemma: "If Netanyahu lashes out at Lando, he pays the price of losing the ultra-Orthodox support he needs to form a government. If he stays silent, he hands ammunition to his opponents, who can tell voters that the man who never stops talking about Zionism and security is presiding over a government that depends on a religious leadership that questions Zionism itself."

The core political implication of the Lando affair is that the ideological fault line between Netanyahu's right-wing electoral base and his ultra-Orthodox allies has been torn open in public. The spiritual leader of the ruling coalition has questioned the very necessity of the state's existence, while the prime minister — held hostage by election arithmetic — cannot break with him. That tension will be put to the test at the ballot box on October 27.