After halt, IDF says it resumed proactive arrests of Haredi draft dodgers in September

The Israeli military says that during September it did carry out some proactive enforcement against Haredi draft dodgers, after admitting to the High Court earlier that it had halted such efforts “in the recent period.”

The IDF says that during the recent Jewish holiday period, the Military Police bolstered forces at border crossings and airports, leading to the arrests of over 200 deserters and draft evaders.

Earlier, military officials told the Attorney General’s Office that proactive arrests of Haredi draft dodgers had not been conducted because there had been a focus on “concentrating efforts” to arrest draft dodgers discovered trying to leave the country at border crossings during the recent holiday season.

They said that 212 draft dodgers were arrested at various border crossings, mostly Ben Gurion Airport, between September 1 and September 22, 163 of whom were from the Haredi community.

The IDF, in a new statement to reporters, says that during September the Military Police carried out 15 proactive attempts to arrest draft dodgers, of which eight individuals were actually arrested, contrary to the earlier statement which said it had not carried out any such attempts.