A new video of the Satmar Rebbe's recent visit to Israel reveals the extreme stance he and his court take against the state.
Satmar hassidism is anti-Zionist, believing there should have been no Jewish state established until the coming of the Messiah and that a non-religious Jewish state in Israel is forbidden. On the other hand, the Satmar care about Jewish welfare and run various charitable enterprises in Israel and the USA, including meals for people remaining in hospitals over Shabbat to be with loved ones.
The Rebbe visited Satmar communities in Meron and Jerusalem, where thousands of followers donned festive attire to welcome him.
The video includes footage of hundreds of followers singing 'We do not believe in the non-believers' government, and take no notice of their laws,' a protest slogan used heavily in demonstrations against the draft law and against changes to the haredi school curriculum.
He also delivered a lecture stating, 'We may live in the land of Israel, but we must be isolated from them. Anyone who joins the Zionist entity, even a little bit - even the haredi parties - is entirely part of it and becomes entirely defiled and contaminated."
Quoting the information spread in the US by anti-IDF haredi sources, he said: "Anyone who is in the IDF is impure. Anyone who enlists comes back as one-third gentile, or sometimes one-half, or sometimes entirely a gentile."