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Sunday, September 21, 2025
100 Haredi draft dodgers currently held in military prison, extremist Jerusalem Faction says
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Around 100 Haredi draft dodgers are currently being held in military prison, the extremist Jerusalem Faction group announces.
In a statement, the ultra-Orthodox group, which is vociferously opposed to the military enlistment of yeshiva students, says that over the last few days, dozens of evaders have been arrested and sent to prison while some already in custody have been tried and released.
Addressing the Knesset State Control Committee last week, Maj. Gen. Dado Bar Kalif, the head of the IDF’s Personnel Directorate, told lawmakers that Haredi evaders arrested by the military police are still managing to get out of enlisting thanks to significant loopholes, which makes efforts to detain them a waste of resources.
He added that arrests are expected to ramp up as more Haredi men attempt to fly to Uman, Ukraine, for an annual Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage to the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov. Dozens of suspected draft dodgers were reportedly arrested in recent days at Ben Gurion Airport while trying to make the journey.
The Times of Israel Community.