Most Haredi deserters are not arrested in proactive operations, despite the law
The Supreme Court froze the law exempting Haredim from arrest, but in the last month, proactive efforts to locate young men required for conscription have been significantly reduced. 40 Haredi deserters are in military prison, more than half of them identified while trying to board flights to Europe. The IDF blames the police, who in turn claim they are following the existing procedure.
Even though the law exempting Haredi deserters from arrest was frozen by the Supreme Court, in the last month, proactive activity to locate them has been significantly reduced. The vast majority of the 40 young Haredim currently in military prison were arrested during a random encounter with police officers or while attempting to leave the country.
About half of them were identified at Ben Gurion Airport, when their goal was to reach Europe, and from there continue to Ukraine to spend the Rosh Hashanah prayers at the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov. Earlier today, ahead of the holidays, the IDF published an AI-generated video — which has already been removed due to the criticism it received — in which a character of a Haredi man in uniform advises Haredi deserters on their way abroad how to avoid arrest at the airport. In the video, the character suggests that Haredim arrive with the summons they received at the recruitment office, provide their personal details, and then leave legally for abroad, without being arrested by the authorities at Ben Gurion Airport.
It should be noted that in the Haredi street, the trick is known even without the army's video, and many Haredim use it to travel abroad. Of course, they do not end up enlisting. Rabbis from the Hasidic community have previously called not to risk arrest in order to reach Uman, and to stay in the country. Furthermore, some rabbis emphasized that one should not agree to enlist or begin the induction stages in order to get the opportunity to fly.
Regarding law enforcement, the IDF said that the police are not providing the necessary escort. The police, on the other hand, said that there is a procedure that binds it as well and it is complying with it. Meanwhile, the decrease in arrests has caused the area to calm down and reduced the demonstrations and road blockades by the more militant factions opposing the draft. The demonstrations, as noted by the Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara in her response to the Supreme Court, make it difficult to carry out arrests of deserters:
«The army and police officials spoke about the significant difficulty that exists in carrying out proactive operations and arresting draft dodgers from the Haredi public at this time, in light of the large-scale public disturbances that accompany it. Dealing with these disturbances requires the allocation of significant resources.»
Since the "Bein HaZmanim" days, there have been two demonstrations over the arrest of deserters that were reported to the anti-draft protest organizations. One of them was of a young Haredi man who was interrogated in a case being investigated at Lahav 433 — and at the end of the interrogation it turned out that he was a deserter and he was transferred to the Military Police, and also this week another proactive arrest was carried out. As mentioned, all other arrests were at Ben Gurion Airport or in a random encounter with police officers — and not as part of proactive activity.
