Followers of the Gur Hasidic sect protested Wednesday night near the Neve Tzedek military prison at the Beit Lid base outside Netanya. At one point, several threw stones at a military police vehicle transporting draft dodgers. Amid the clashes, during which the attackers also sprayed tear gas at soldiers, the protesters managed to free one of the detainees from the vehicle before breaking into dance and applause.
After the incident, the military vehicle — apparently carrying about 10 draft dodgers — continued on and eventually reached the prison. One protester was lightly injured by stones and treated at the scene, as were two soldiers.
A draft dodger arrested at Ben Gurion Airport
(Video: Yair Sagi, Miki Schmidt)
The IDF said in a statement: “As part of routine enforcement, several draft dodgers were arrested today, tried in disciplinary proceedings and sent to detention. While being transported to prison, the vehicle encountered a protest at the Kfar Yona junction, during which demonstrators threw stones and sprayed tear gas. Two IDF soldiers suffered minor injuries from the gas and were treated at the scene. One detainee managed to escape. After initial treatment and evacuation, the vehicle continued on its way. The IDF views the incident with severity and condemns any attack against its personnel. The army will continue to enforce the law as required.”
Organizers said the protest came in response to the imprisonment of more than 70 yeshiva students and married scholars in recent days, which they described as “a direct result of persecution of Torah learners and the cancellation of their legal status in the Land of Israel.” They announced a campaign “against all government forces persecuting the Torah world, refusing to restore the historic arrangement for yeshiva students without quotas or targets.”
During the rally, Rabbi Nechemia Alter, son of the Gur rebbe, criticized lawmakers from the ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism parties who supported or abstained from last week’s state budget vote. “Today they supported the government — and next week as well,” he said. “But we must fight with all our strength against this evil government.”
In the past two days, around 30 additional ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers were arrested at Ben-Gurion Airport while en route to Uman in Ukraine and transferred to Tel Hashomer military base to face trial.
Yisrael Beytenu party chairman Avigdor Lieberman said in response: “Violence by draft dodgers against security forces crosses a red line. Their energy should be directed at Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists, not against IDF soldiers. The police must arrest the rioters and prosecute them to the fullest extent.”