From 25 ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers said detained at airport trying to go on Ukraine pilgrimage
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 25 additional ultra-Orthodox men have been arrested at Ben Gurion International Airport over the past two days while trying to fly to Uman in Ukraine for a Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage, the Jerusalem Faction announces.
It previously stated that almost 30 people had been arrested at the airport on Monday alone and currently claims that there are more than 70 Haredi draft evaders in military custody.
Every year, tens of thousands of Jewish pilgrims, mainly Hasidim, head to Uman from all around the world to visit the tomb of Rabbi Nachman (1772-1810) for Rosh Hashanah — the Jewish New Year — celebrated this year on September 23-24.
The ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism parties have lobbied Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and military officials to allow draft-dodging yeshiva students to take part in the annual pilgrimage without fear of arrest.
However, the Attorney General’s Office said that the government has no right to create a mechanism to let ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers leave Israel, writing a letter to the government late last month asserting that it would be illegal to allow draft evaders to leave Israel for Uman.
Addressing the Knesset State Control Committee on Wednesday, Maj. Gen. Dado Bar Kalifa, the head of the IDF’s Personnel Directorate, said that ultra-Orthodox draft evaders arrested by the military police are still managing to get out of enlisting thanks to large loopholes, making 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.
The Times of Israel Community.