More than 100 U.S.-based Haredi donors, organized under the name of the Coalition for Talmud Torah and Security, pledged recently to only fund institutions that support the Israel Defense Forces, eJewishPhilanthropy reported, citing Haredi press accounts.
“This stance takes no position on the current debate regarding the draft,” the signatories stated, of the Israeli Supreme Court’s June 2024 ruling that enforced draft requirements for Haredi men and led to protests.
“It addresses only the propriety of public opposition to the IDF during an ongoing defense of Jewish life,” the group said. The coalition cited the recent antisemitic attack at Bondi Beach in Australia, noting that “our people’s future is increasingly tied to Eretz Yisrael,” the land of Israel.
“Jewish safety across the Diaspora depends on the strength of the Jewish state and its unique capacity to deter and respond to threats beyond its borders,” the group stated. “The Israel Defense Forces bear responsibility for the physical protection of the Jewish people in the State of Israel.”
“We cannot in good conscience support institutions whose public posture undermines those charged with defending Jewish life,” the group wrote.
The statement clarified that signatories will “only provide financial support to Torah institutions that do not publicly speak against, protest or delegitimize the IDF” and that “this policy will remain in effect until such positions are reconsidered in a manner consistent with the defense of Jewish life.”
Yeshiva World News reported that some said that they were added to the list without their permission.
