An emergency gathering of leading rabbonim and roshei yeshiva took place Sunday evening in southern Israel, where gedolei Yisroel spoke out forcefully against Israeli military recruitment programs aimed at chareidi young men, warning that they are deceptive and spiritually dangerous.

The event, organized by the Ezram U’Maginam organization, came in response to increased efforts by military officials and program operators to promote tracks such as “Kodkod” and “Ma’alot Tzur” within the chareidi community. Organizers said these programs attempt to attract bnei Torah through financial incentives and other inducements, while concealing their true nature as full military enlistment.

Participating in the gathering were senior rabbinic leaders, including members of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah and Moetzes Chachmei HaTorah, along with rabbonim and roshei yeshiva from Be’er Sheva, Ofakim, Netivot, Yerucham, Tifrach, Ashkelon, Kiryat Gat, Arad, and Dimona. Among those present were Rav Aviezer Piltz, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Tushiya in Tifrach; Rav Aryeh Levi, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Sechar Sochir; Rav Shmuel Betzalel, rosh yeshiva of Porat Yosef; and Rav Yehoshua Eichenstein, rosh yeshiva of Yad Aharon.

Ahead of the event, sharply worded letters from gedolei Yisroel were circulated, strongly opposing these recruitment tracks.

Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch wrote: “All of these tracks are an integral part of the army, and one who goes there places himself under the authority and control of the military government and becomes a full-fledged soldier, and there is absolutely no basis for leniency.”

av Dov Landau added in his own handwriting: “Beyond the disaster he brings upon himself and his household, others may be drawn after him, and his sin is too great to bear.”

In a separate letter, Rav Meir Tzvi Bergman wrote: “The protective wall has been breached by those whose inclination has overtaken them, who come in disguise and through deception to establish special tracks such as Kodkod and the like, luring people with respectable livelihoods and similar promises, blinding their eyes, for through this they become subjugated to the authority of the army.”

Rav Chaim Feinstein also warned: “One who goes there places himself under the authority and control of the military government, whose purpose is the uprooting of religion, and he accepts upon himself a yoke that is the opposite of the yoke of Heaven. In doing so, he removes from himself the yoke of Heaven and places himself in clear danger of casting off the yoke of Torah and mitzvos in the gravest ways.”

Speakers at the gathering warned that these programs pose a serious threat to the integrity of the chareidi community and urged bnei Torah and their families to avoid them, describing the initiatives as misleading attempts to draw them into military frameworks under the guise of opportunity.