Ultra-Orthodox rabbi’s anti-Zionist remarks stir Israel election row

Comments by one of Israel’s most senior ultra-Orthodox rabbis postulating that Jews may have been better off without a state have prompted controversy in the country.In footage broadcast by Channel 12 on Monday, the 96-year-old Rabbi Dov Lando, the spiritual leader of the Degel HaTorah party, also said that soldiers adhering to “Religious Zionism” killed in Israel’s wars were dying because of what their rabbis had taught them. The remarks, made at a closed meeting at his home in Bnei Brak, have set off a political storm three weeks before Israel’s October 27 parliamentary election.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Why Paramount-Warner merger has sparked fears about press freedomlist 2 of 3The mass killing does not mean Israel’s winninglist 3 of 3How genocide in Gaza pulled Britons into the Palestine movementend of list“They are killed because their rabbis teach them a distorted Torah,” Lando said, adding that many military operations are carried out “not for saving lives, but for the honour of the state”.Lando’s comment came in response to a question about admiration among some ultra-Orthodox Jewish men – who have traditionally refused the military draft – for religious...