Report: Haredi draft dodger arrested at Ben Gurion Airport overnight

An ultra-Orthodox yeshiva student was arrested at Ben Gurion Airport overnight for trying to evade an IDF draft order by leaving the country, Hebrew media outlets report.

The reported arrest marks the first time that action has been taken against Haredi men who fail to obey draft orders.

The IDF has issued thousands of draft orders to members of the ultra-Orthodox community after the High Court ruled in June 2024 that there was no longer any legal framework allowing the state to refrain from drafting Haredi yeshiva students into military service. Of the several thousand yeshiva students served draft orders since then, only a few hundred have shown up at induction centers.

Haredi anti-draft protests are being planned for several locations across Israel in response to the arrest, one of the organizers tells Channel 12, while Ynet reports that one such demonstration will take place outside the jail where the detained draft dodger is being held.