High-level secret meetings were held this week in Bnei Brak between an American envoy representing U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and senior Gedolei Eretz Yisroel.

The back-to-back meetings took place quietly at the homes of Harav Dov Landau, shlit”a and Harav Moshe Hillel Hirsch shlit”a. At the center of the discussions was a single, urgent issue: American intervention to halt the arrests of yeshiva bochurim who refuse to report to the IDF.

According to sources close to the gedolim, the meetings were initiated in light of the growing distress in the Olam Hatorah over the government’s increasing aggression toward yeshivaleit. Chareidi leadership pointed to a precedent in Ukraine, where the U.S. previously intervened to oppose the lowering of the draft age — a move that threatened religious students in that country.

The urgency was underscored earlier Thursday, Rav Dov Landau personally traveled to Beit Lid Military Prison to visit Refael and Baruch Itzhakov, two yeshiva bochurim from Tel Aviv’s Yeshivas Me’oros HaTorah who were arrested after refusing to report to the IDF draft office.

Despite his advanced age and delicate health, the Rosh Yeshiva insisted on visiting the imprisoned bochurim, a sign of the grave concern and kavod haTorah the Torah leadership feels for the bnei yeshiva who are being treated as criminals for their commitment to Torah.

Close confidants of the Rosh Yeshiva revealed that he has been unable to sleep at night, deeply tormented by the idea of young bnei Torah sitting in prison cells — not for theft or violence, but for staying true to Limud Torah.

“He is carrying the burden of all of Klal Yisrael on his shoulders,” a person in Rav Landau’s orbit said. “Every bochur behind bars is a dagger in his heart.”

The meetings with the U.S. envoy mark a significant shift in strategy among chareidi leadership — turning to international diplomatic pressure as the Israeli government doubles down on its attempts to criminalize Torah learning.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)