Tel Hashomer recruitment center
Photo: Niv Calderon
6 arrested for promoting draft-dodging
Police detain suspects, one of them a 70-year-old woman, seize computers used to upload material to website encouraging draft-dodging
Six suspects, one of them a 70-year old woman, were detained for questioning and released Sunday on suspicion that they preached in favor of dodging the IDF's draft. Police say more suspects have been located and will be detained.
Police have been following the activities of two websites called Target 21 and New Profile, which encourage youths to dodge the mandatory draft. Officers used IP addresses to locate computers outputting information to the sites and arrived at the owners' homes Sunday morning to search the premises.
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During the searches in homes located in various cities, including Ramat Hasharon and Jerusalem, officers confiscated computers and other materials related to draft-dodging. Police plan to use the material in order to charge the suspects.
A 70-year old woman who was among the suspects detained told Ynet she had no regrets. "Four policemen arrived at my home at 7 am but I wasn't home. My husband opened the door for them and they took two computers; mine and my husband's. They took some stickers and then summoned me for questioning," she said.
"I'm not nervous about this because my conscience is clear. We don't incite. Everything we do is legal, and that's what I told them during the interrogation. I'm calm. I don't know what they will claim, but you can sense a lack of democracy in the air," the woman added.
New Profile, on its part, stated that it was a public and fully legal establishment and that the interrogation violated freedom of speech.
"The militarization of Israeli society harms the sacred principles of democracy, freedom of speech, and political freedom. For people who thought that only Israeli-Arabs were being framed for criminal political activity, this morning was proof that none of us can be sure of the permission to express ourselves freely regarding the failings of Israel's society and regime," the statement said.
Anat Shalev contributed to this report
