IDF reportedly preparing to arrest Haredi draft evaders when they head to Uman

The IDF is planning to arrest ultra-Orthodox men who have not responded to draft orders, on their way out of the country as they head to an annual pilgrimage to Uman, Ukraine, for Rosh Hashanah, say Hebrew media reports.

Tens of thousands travel annually to Uman for the Jewish New Year to be at the gravesite of the Hasidic sage Rabbi Nahman of Breslov, who lived at the turn of the 19th century.

But the Ynet news site reports that now, leading rabbis of the Breslov Hasidic movement are urging their followers to forgo the pilgrimage if they are facing draft orders. The rabbis reportedly fear that if the ultra-Orthodox men are arrested, they may agree to be drafted in order to avoid prison time.

“The draft decree is a decree of annihilation on its face, and certainly let us not even think of falling into the trap they’ve laid,” the rabbis write in a letter, according to Ynet.

The warning comes as the IDF is reportedly planning to station military police at ports of entry across Israel, including Ben Gurion Airport, in order to arrest draft evaders. Those evading conscription are prohibited from leaving the country.

The pilgrimage to Uman for the Jewish New Year next month has become an increasingly urgent priority for Haredi leaders, who have asked for permission for Haredim to head to the site and reportedly worked to secure NIS 10 million ($3 million) in government funds to facilitate travel to Ukraine via Moldova.

The discussions over Uman come amid a national debate over the longstanding Haredi exemption from mandatory military service. Some 80,000 Haredi men are eligible for the draft at a time when the IDF says it is facing an urgent manpower shortage.

Haredi leaders have instructed their followers to avoid the draft, portraying it as a threat to their way of life, and are pushing to enshrine mass exemptions in law.