Leading rabbi Chaim Druckman seriously ill after catching COVID, followers say

A leading nonagenarian rabbi with a powerful political following was reportedly in serious condition Sunday after being diagnosed with COVID-19 two days earlier.

Rabbi Chaim Druckman, 90, was being treated at his Merkaz Shapira home by a team of personal doctors over the weekend after he began to feel ill on Friday, according to comments from family members and others carried by Hebrew-language media.

Druckman’s condition was listed as serious but stable, Channel 13 reported Sunday, citing associates. .

But a family member quoted by Channel 12 news said the rabbi was no longer conscious.

“We’re hoping for the best. It’s hard for use to think of anything beyond this,” the relative was quoted as saying.

News of Druckman’s illness sparked alarm and worry among right-wing politicians and members of the national religious community.

Druckman is widely seen as the spiritual leader of the politically ascendant camp, and closely advises Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the far-right Religious Zionism party.

A former Knesset member and Israel Prize laureate, Druckman wields wide political influence, and is regularly courted by lawmakers seeking his endorsement or help in engineering political maneuvers.

Smotrich urged followers to pray for the rabbi’s recovery in a tweet Saturday night, along with a number of other allied politicians and public figures who also said they were praying for his recovery.

Among those issuing public calls for prayers for Druckman was Religious Services Minister Matan Kahana, a member of the more moderate flank of the national religious camp that allied with Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s government. Kahana had touted Druckman’s support for a landmark conversion reform bill they crafted together but failed to push through Knesset.

Druckman was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Friday after complaining of ill health, marking his second bout with the infection.

He first contracted the coronavirus in February, and has suffered from various medical complications since.

Earlier this month, Druckman made headlines when he said he supported turning Israel into a state governed by religious law, while insisting that it would not infringe on individual rights.

He also drew criticism this month for dismissing rape allegations against Rabbi Zvi Tau, the spiritual leader of the anti-LGBT Noam political party, which won a single seat in the new Knesset as part of the Religious Zionism slate.

Tau has been accused by several women of sexual abuse and rape dating back decades, with two going public so far.

Last month, he led a group of rabbis pushing Smotrich to insist on receiving the defense minister portfolio in coalition negotiations.

Last year, Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly arranged a meeting between Druckman and Ra’am party leader Mansour Abbas in hopes of getting the rabbi to endorse the idea of building a governing coalition with an Arab party.

A message issued on behalf of Druckman the following day read: “As a person [Abbas] left a positive impression on me… But in my opinion, the government must be based on Jews.”

Reports indicated that the message may have been influenced by lobbying by Smotrich.

Druckman was born in 1932 in Poland and escaped Europe to Mandate Palestine with his parents in 1944. He served in the Knesset from 1977 to 1988, including a seven-month stint as deputy religious services minister, and again from 1999 to 2003. He is the head of the Or Etzion yeshiva and the Bnei Akiva yeshiva system.