Dozens of Chabad yeshiva students detained at Ben Gurion Airport on Tuesday morning after returning from a year of religious study in New York were transferred at midday to the IDF's induction center at Tel Hashomer, where they could face military prison if they refuse to enlist.
According to military officials, students who agree to enlist will receive suspended disciplinary sentences and be released from custody, while those who refuse will be sent to Military Prison 10. The arrangement does not necessarily apply to individuals whose draft evasion cases have been referred to the military prosecution, a classification that could expose them to imprisonment.
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Chabad students board buses at Ben Gurion Airport on their way to the IDF induction center at Tel Hashomer
(Photo: courtesy of Chabad Mitadkenim)
More than 40 members of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement were detained by military police after arriving in Israel from New York, where they had spent a year studying at the movement's world headquarters. Passports were confiscated from some of the students, who were informed that they were suspected of failing to report for compulsory military service.
Chabad students typically travel to the United States after completing three years of advanced yeshiva studies in Israel. They spend a year studying Torah, praying and strengthening their connection to the Lubavitcher Rebbe before continuing to outreach assignments or marriage.
The IDF had advance notice of the students' arrival and deployed additional military police officers to Ben Gurion Airport.
Chabad has maintained an arrangement with the military under which students travel abroad for a year of religious study, return to Israel and enlist at a later stage through a service track adapted to their religious lifestyle. However, without formal Torato Umanuto status, which allows eligible yeshiva students to defer military service while studying Torah, that arrangement no longer has a legal basis.
Shneur Weber, a Haredi journalist whose brother was among those detained, criticized the military's handling of the incident.
"This was handled in an unwise and inappropriate manner," he said. "I served in the military myself, and many of those who landed today intended to serve in the army and regularize their status. At such a sensitive time, this is not the right way to act. I hope the military judges and military police understand that this approach is neither appropriate nor genuinely helpful in addressing the problem."
Chabad representatives also expressed anger over the detentions, arguing that the movement has a substantial number of members serving in the military.
"It's terribly disappointing, especially considering the enormous proportion of Chabad men who enlist," a representative said. "Picking on Chabad's young men is disgraceful. There are huge numbers of people serving from Chabad, so singling them out is the most bizarre and unnecessary thing imaginable."
Chabad students arrive at Ben Gurion Airport after returning from New York
(Photo: The Chabadniks)
The IDF said military police routinely enforce Israel's compulsory military service law, including at border crossings, in coordination with relevant authorities such as the Population and Immigration Authority.
"The individuals in question, who passed through the border crossing at Ben Gurion Airport, are required to enlist and will face proceedings in accordance with the law," the military said. "The IDF will continue to enforce the Defense Service Law equally and ensure that the obligation to serve is fulfilled."
A military official rejected claims that some of the detained students had already been released.
"The claim that some of those detained have been released is incorrect," the official said. "Anyone who is not classified as a draft evader will face disciplinary proceedings, and if they demonstrate genuine willingness to enlist, they will receive a suspended sentence and be inducted into the military."
The IDF said it was making every effort to explain to the students that those willing to serve would be assigned to a military track adapted to the Haredi way of life.
Asked why the students had not been detained when they originally left Israel, military officials said draft notices had been issued before their departure, but that the students had not yet been classified as failing to cooperate with recruitment authorities.
"This was not an enforcement failure. Quite the opposite. The IDF prepared in advance and deployed military police forces at Ben Gurion Airport," the officials said.
"The IDF is not seeking a confrontation with Haredi society. Anyone who expresses willingness to serve will be assigned to an appropriate service track."