Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch, leader of the Edah HaChareidis faction, burned a draft summons of a yeshiva student just released from military prison and instructed him to continue not reporting for enlistment.
He is regarded as a preeminent authority among the haredi community despite holding some of the most extreme positions against military service.
The incident took place last Wednesday after the rabbi's weekly lesson at the 'Teshuvot V'Hanhagot' study hall in Jerusalem.
As usual, the Rabbi burned the wicks left from Hanukkah, but this time he also added the draft summons to the fire, in a step his associates describe, "an instruction for aggressive warfare against the army."
The person who brought the young man to the rabbi was Haredi activist Shimon Shisha, who explained that the young man had been held in military prison for 16 days and was released that same day. He said the military is demanding that he present himself again for full enlistment as soon as this coming Sunday.
Rabbi Sternbuch addressed the young man in Yiddish and said, "You must ignore them!"
Afterwards the rabbi threw the draft notice into the fire, to the sound of the students singing.