From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
UTJ’s Asher accuses authorities of trying to disrupt election with arrests of Haredi draft dodgers
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleAriela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.
United Torah Judaism leader Yaakov Asher accuses authorities of attempting to interfere in next week’s election by arresting ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers, claiming without evidence that the detentions are part of a politically motivated campaign to intimidate Haredi voters.
His remarks come after Military Police detained more than 40 members of the Chabad-Lubavitch community at Ben Gurion Airport this morning as they returned to Israel from the United States, for evading mandatory military service.
“For some time now, I have been warning about attempts to disrupt the election process” through “unnecessary arrests” intended to “instill fear and terror in the Haredi public and thereby prevent the democratic process of elections,” the leader of the ultra-Orthodox party says.
He alleges the arrests are “part of a planned campaign” intended to provoke demonstrations and public outrage for political gain.
“I call on Justice [Noam] Sohlberg, the chairman of the Central Elections Committee, to intervene in this matter and instruct the police to stop these premeditated arrests at such a sensitive time,” Asher says. “This contributes nothing to the army. It serves political parties in these elections.”
Asher provides no evidence to substantiate his allegations of political interference. The detainees are legally required to enlist and are being held for violating the Defense Service Law, which the IDF says it routinely enforces at border crossings, including Ben Gurion Airport.
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