A rare video has been disseminated across news agencies and social media in which the notably esteemed Rosh Yeshiva, Harav Dov Lando, vociferously condemns Zionism, proclaiming, among other things, that it would have been better had the Arabs ruled over the Land of Israel, that Zionism caused the Arabs to hate us, and that Zionists have no connection to Judaism.
Such a powerful denunciation of Zionism coming from a rabbi of Rav Lando’s stature caused considerable uproar in Zionist circles. And anyone familiar with the rather primitive Zionist method of proving a point could probably guess what came next. Even one of the most prominent rabbinical authorities in the Jewish world was not spared the inevitable label: antisemite.
Naftali Bennett, former prime minister and now leading a party seeking to defeat Netanyahu, issued a lengthy tirade against the venerable rabbi and, lo and behold, invoked antisemitism. His post garnered considerable attention for the obvious ludicrousness of the accusation. Branding a great rabbi, a rabbinical authority revered by vast numbers of Yidden in the Holy Land and around the world, as antisemitic for condemning Zionism is almost satirical in itself. It is yet another demonstration of how vain the Zionist argument becomes when it cannot defend its position without reaching for the same accusation against virtually anyone who challenges it.
Torah Jews responded to the widely circulated news with what should be pervasive knowledge: Rav Lando’s position is neither unique among Torah leaders nor a new phenomenon. Jewish opposition to Zionism is as old as Zionism itself and consistent with the teachings of many of our greatest Rabbis of yesteryear.
Our exact tweet:
“Rabbi Dov Landau echoes the sentiment expressed by generations of Rabbis before him. The consensus has always been that Zionism is a negation of our faith, a danger to Jews, and a wedge between Muslims and Jews where there should never have been one. The truth was never hidden. It was spoken clearly all along.”
And perhaps that is the greatest irony of all. When even one of the most revered Torah authorities can be branded an “antisemite” for opposing Zionism, the accusation becomes self-parody.