"Because of the severe situation prevailing in our Holy Land, I request from the Jewish people to increase their prayers for our brothers the people of Israel who need great mercy.…It is a time of distress for the Jewish people. We must strengthen ourselves in observance of the Sabbath, guarding against negative speech, and observe the laws of modesty."
Above: Rabbi Aharon Leib Steinman
Haredi Leader Asks Jews To Pray For “People Of Israel” – But Does Not Ask Them To Pray For IDF
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
The leader of the mainstream non-hasidic Ashkenazi haredi mainstream faction, Rabbi Aharon Leib Steinman (also spelled "Shteinman"), called on Jews to recite psalms and increase observance of halakha (Orthodox religious law) due to the war in Gaza, the Jerusalem Post reported.
"Because of the severe situation prevailing in our Holy Land, I request from the Jewish people to increase their prayers for our brothers the people of Israel who need great mercy.…It is a time of distress for the Jewish people. We must strengthen ourselves in observance of the Sabbath, guarding against negative speech, and observe the laws of modesty,” Steinman said in a front page notice published in the Israeli haredi daily paper he controls, Yated Ne'eman, Friday.
Steinman and his #2 faction rabbi, Chaim Kanievsky, together also called for special psalms and prayers to be recited before Shabbat in synagogues and yeshiva study halls.
Neither notice mentions IDF soldiers or the IDF by name, and neither mentions the State of Israel or its government.
Similar calls have been issued by hasidic leaders, as well.
Almost no haredim serve in the IDF and both Steinman and Kanievsky have vehemently opposed drafting any haredim into military service in the IDF, no matter how reduced that service is or how many accommodations are made by the IDF for extreme haredi modesty and kosher food demands.