Rav Avraham Binyamin Zilberberg, Rosh Yeshiva of Gur in Hatzor and a member of the chassidus’s chinuch committee, whose name was mentioned recently in reports that he was in negotiations with the IDF to reach an agreement on the drafting issue, whereby 250 would join the police force, and the rest would receive exemptions, clarified in a dramatic letter that this never happened and that he does not have the authority to deal with this matter.
In the letter sent this morning to the chairman of United Torah Judaism and Minister of Housing Yitzchak Goldknopf, Rav Zilberberg wrote: “To the honorable emissary of the rabbonim, Rav Yitzchak Goldknopf, I was astonished to hear that there are reports that I supposedly held talks with someone from Gur regarding enlistment in the police in exchange for military service,” Rav Zilberberg writes, making it clear that these are “nonsense and futile talk.”
Rabbi Zilberberg elaborated: “This information has no basis in reality. Someone made up these things for an unknown purpose. There were no such discussions, and certainly there is no agreement to enlist in the police or any other arrangements.” The rosh yeshiva reiterated: “There was no such thing.”
Rav Zilberberg added: “The only matter at hand is to restore the arrangement that has been in place for years, where anyone whose Torah is their primary occupation is exempt from military service, without conditions and without deals.”
He further clarified in his letter that he is not in charge of the draft issue. “This issue,” he writes, “belongs to those appointed by the Gedolei Yisrael, and they are working with great dedication to remove this terrible decree and restore the previous arrangement.
“May your hands and the hands of all those involved in this sacred work be strengthened, and may the mouths of those who speak falsehood be sealed,” he concluded.
It should be noted that this morning, it was reported on Galei Tzahal about a dramatic agreement being formed between Gur chassidus and the Ministry of Defense, according to which about 250 young men from the chassidus would join the police force in exchange for the rest of the chassidim being exempt from military service.
According to the report, talks had been held over the past month with senior officials in the Ministry of Defense by Rav Zilberberg, a close associate of the Gerer Rebbe, who, as mentioned, denies any such discussions took place.

{Matzav.com Israel}