Any plan that allows Haredi draft dodgers to join annual pilgrimage to Uman would be illegal, AG’s office warns

The Office of the Attorney General informs the government that it has no right to create a mechanism that allows ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers to leave Israel, after reports this week suggested that it was planning on doing just that to allow men to make an annual pilgrimage to Uman, Ukraine, for Rosh Hashanah.

In a letter sent to the government this morning, Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon says that although he is not currently aware of any plans to create a loophole to allow draft evaders to leave Israel for Uman, doing so would be illegal.

“Although, as stated, we are not aware of any concrete intentions…we would like to clarify, if only to provide a complete picture, that a plan whose purpose is to avoid exercising law enforcement powers against draftees who do not enlist and violate their duty at the airport or at border crossings, is contrary to the law,” he writes.

He also notes that “the law does not allow the government or any of its ministries to formulate an outline that would amount to interference in law enforcement activities or to order enforcement authorities to refrain from exercising law enforcement powers.”

It was reported earlier this week that Haredi lawmakers were pressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the IDF to allow draft dodging yeshiva students to partake in the Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage to Ukraine, with Shas leader Deri claiming that the journey is a religious obligation and should not be treated as leisure travel.

At the same time, United Torah Judaism chair Yitzhak Goldknopf was said to have asked Netanyahu that Hasidic Jews be permitted to flout restrictions in order to fly to New York and other destinations during the High Holidays, calling the trip “a sublime spiritual experience that has no substitute.”

It would appear that for the time being, these efforts have not been successful, as reports yesterday stated that the IDF is planning to station military police at ports of entry across Israel, including Ben Gurion Airport, to arrest draft evaders trying to head out for the holidays.