Satmar rebbe to meet with Trump, vows to lobby president for help on Israeli draft law

Head of anti-Zionist Hasidic dynasty to meet with President Trump for pre-holiday greeting, vows to raise the issue of Israel’s efforts to draft ultra-Orthodox men into the IDF.

By World Israel News Staff

President Donald Trump is expected to meet a group of prominent ultra-Orthodox rabbis at the White House on Thursday, including one of the leaders of the fiercely anti-Zionist Satmar Hasidic movement, who says he intends to ask the president to intervene over the drafting of yeshiva students in Israel.

Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum, the Satmar Rebbe based in Kiryas Joel, New York, and one of two spiritual leaders claiming the mantle of the Satmar dynasty, told followers over the weekend that he had received an invitation to join other rabbinic leaders for a meeting with Trump on September 3.

“Last Sunday, I received an invitation from the White House to meet with the president this coming Thursday,” Teitelbaum said.

The rabbi said he initially considered turning down the invitation because of preparations for the Jewish High Holy Days, but ultimately decided to attend in the hope that the meeting could be used to help Jews facing difficulties.

Among the issues he hopes to raise is Israel’s long-running dispute over military service for ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students.

“Right now tens of thousands of Jews in Israel are suffering over this decree to draft yeshiva students,” Teitelbaum said.

The meeting has not yet been publicly announced by the White House, and its final format and guest list remain fluid. It is reportedly scheduled for 12:30 pm Thursday in the Oval Office.

Others invited reportedly include Rabbi Teitelbaum’s brother and rival Satmar leader Rabbi Zalman Leib Teitelbaum, Rabbi Aryeh Malkiel Kotler of Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood and several prominent Hasidic rebbes.

Some of the initially invited rabbis have reportedly reconsidered attending because of the proposed format, under which participants could receive only brief individual meetings with Trump.

Organizers have also discussed holding a roundtable to allow for a broader conversation.

The meeting has been in the works for months and was initially conceived in part as an opportunity for Orthodox Jewish leaders to thank Trump and discuss matters affecting their communities.

While Teitelbaum has made clear that he wants to bring up the Israeli draft controversy, people familiar with the planning say the principal domestic issue expected to be raised is government oversight of ultra-Orthodox schools in New York.

Orthodox leaders have fought efforts to require yeshivas to meet state standards for secular education.

New York requires nonpublic schools to provide instruction considered “substantially equivalent” to that offered in public schools, including instruction in subjects such as English, mathematics, science and social studies.

Some ultra-Orthodox leaders regard those requirements as an infringement on the independence of religious schools and have sought greater federal protection against state interference.

The Israeli draft issue could nevertheless turn the White House gathering into an unusually sensitive political event.

Israel has struggled for years over whether ultra-Orthodox men engaged in full-time Torah study should be given deferments from compulsory military service.

The controversy has intensified amid the heavy manpower demands placed on the IDF during years of regional warfare.

Israeli lawmakers approved a temporary measure in July suspending arrests of qualifying full-time yeshiva students through November 30 while efforts continue to establish a broader arrangement.

Satmar takes a significantly more uncompromising position than Israel’s ultra-Orthodox political parties.

Satmar institutions have traditionally rejected Israeli government funding, and followers generally do not participate in Israeli elections.

Teitelbaum’s planned appeal to Trump is also notable because of his past criticism of the president and of the enthusiasm for Trump among other Orthodox Jews.

Following the 2022 elections, Teitelbaum sharply attacked what he called “Trumpism” within the Orthodox community.

“Trumpism has infiltrated the Jewish camp and twisted so many minds,” he said at the time, arguing that Jewish political activity should focus primarily on protecting religious communities and their institutions.

“We are not going to fix America,” he said. “Our goal is to protect ourselves.”

Ahead of Thursday’s meeting, Teitelbaum again cautioned followers against becoming caught up in the prestige surrounding an Oval Office invitation.

“Don’t get swept up in all this ‘Trumpism,’” he said, emphasizing that Torah study remained more important to him than a meeting with the president.

Right-wing journalist and pro-Trump activist Laura Loomer decried the decision to invite Teitelbaum, noting his endorsement for Zohran Mamdani, despite accusations of antisemitism, and Satmar’s opposition to the existence of the State of Israel.

“These are anti-Israel pro-Mamdani rabbis who are being hosted with open arms in the Oval Office,” Loomer wrote on X over the weekend.

“Did anyone bother to do any vetting?”

anti-ZionismDonald TrumpSatmarSatmar Hasidim