How will the departure of thousands of ultra-Orthodox deserters from Israel be prevented?

The Population and Immigration Authority has blocked the possibility of bypassing exit bans. The move will prevent the departure of thousands of ultra-Orthodox deserters seeking to fly to Uman. Until now, deserters managed to pass through the automatic gates at the airport, but now the blocking of those restricted from leaving is carried out already at the check-in stage with the airlines.

This was reported for the first time on Wednesday on Galei Tzahal. The move is intended to prevent the departure of those restricted from leaving the country, after many of them previously exploited loopholes in the automatic security system. Until the current change, the exit ban was enforced only at the passport control stations at the airport using an automatic barrier.

Many ultra-Orthodox deserters managed to bypass the barrier using the 'tailgating' method, where they passed through the gate together with another passenger who did not have an exit ban and for whom the barrier opened. Following the new move that recently came into effect, those restricted from leaving can no longer register for a flight, as a notification about the order appears to the airlines already at the check-in stage.

Ultra-Orthodox deserter organizations expressed outrage at the decision, which is expected to keep thousands of believers in Israel during the Rosh Hashanah holiday. The early blocking completely eliminates the possibility for a person with an exit ban to reach the plane.

The Population and Immigration Authority stated in response:

"In recent months, an optimization of the exit process from the country has indeed been carried out, and it was decided that anyone against whom there is an exit ban will receive information about it at the beginning of the exit procedure from Israel and not at the end, so that they can resolve the issue even before the process."