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IDF deserters

Haredi men attend a rally against the jailing of Jewish seminary students who failed to comply with an army recruitment order, outside the military prison in Beit Lid, near Netanya, August 14, 2025. (Tal Gal/Flash90)
October 20, 2025, 4:49 pm
Why draft-dodger detentions are doing little to keep ultra-Orthodox from evading the IDF
Those caught ignoring enlistment orders can only be jailed for a short time; critics claim many exploit mental health exemptions, reducing enforcement to a ‘revolving door’
By Sam Sokol
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi seen during a tour on near the border with Lebanon, northern Israel, March 16, 2023. (David Cohen/Flash90)
March 25, 2023, 12:58 am
IDF chief cautions army on verge of curbing ops due to absence of reservists – report
Top brass reportedly also concerned anti-overhaul protests might spread to full-time soldiers; security official says internal rift has galvanized adversaries
By ToI Staff
File - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at 10 Downing Street in London, March 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
March 24, 2023, 6:26 pm
Netanyahu: If calls spread for refusal to serve, State of Israel in ‘terrible danger’
In London briefing following meeting with Sunak, PM says Memorial Day would be used for political ends ‘even if I would halt the legislation’
By Amy Spiro
A military police officer speaks with imprisoned Israeli soldiers at Prison Four, Israel's largest military prison, located at the Tzrifin military base on Aril 26, 2018. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)
September 9, 2018, 8:33 am
Army offers amnesty to deserters for festival season
Israelis overseas who have not served in IDF may visit until October 31, while reservists who refused call-up will have criminal charges waived
By ToI Staff
Tamar Ze'evi
November 17, 2016, 1:54 pm
Tamar Ze'evi
I refuse to serve in the Israeli military
She says she loves her land and her people and explains why her conscience led her to choose prison over the army
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men protest the jailing of four yeshiva students who failed to comply with a recruitment order, in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood on February 1, 2015. (Photo credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
February 2, 2015, 4:53 pm
Dozens held as ultra-Orthodox protest army draft
Demonstrators block major highways, set fires after arrests of four yeshiva students for evading IDF conscription
By Tamar Pileggi
A Gahelet instructor with an IDF inmate (photo credit: courtesy IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
June 12, 2014, 9:09 am
The soft side of the slammer
Now in its 10th year, the IDF’s military police rehabilitation unit, Gahelet, tries to bend the arc of prisoners’ lives
By Mitch Ginsburg
Illustrative photo of a female prison guard at the Neve Tirza prison in Ramle (photo credit: Moshe Shai/Flash90)
October 15, 2012, 6:36 pm
Canadian-Israeli ‘deserter’ granted clemency
After serving half her jail term, Yana Gorelik set to return to Canada
By Philip Podolsky
Illustrative photo of a female prison guard at the Neve Tirza prison in Ramle (photo credit: Moshe Shai/Flash90)
September 27, 2012, 10:13 pm
Canadian-Israeli ‘deserter’ sentenced to 3 months in prison
Under plea bargain, Yana Gorelik’s month of incarceration served pending trial to be deducted from her sentence
By Philip Podolsky
A female prison guard poses for the camera through a keyhole in an Israeli jail (photo credit: Nati Shohat/Flash90)
September 16, 2012, 2:39 pm
Canadian-Israeli ‘deserter’ gets Rosh Hashanah furlough
Yana Gorelik, 30, is fighting charges of draft-dodging
By Gabe Fisher
Illustrative photo of a female prison guard at the Neve Tirza women's prison in Ramle (photo credit: Moshe Shai/Flash90)
September 9, 2012, 9:57 am
Family of detained Canadian-Israeli says essentials being withheld
Prison services failed to transfer contact lens solution and summer clothes to Yana Gorelik, 30, held as an army deserter
By Gabe Fisher
Illustrative photo of a female prison guard at the Neve Tirza women's prison in Ramle (photo credit: Moshe Shai/Flash90)
September 5, 2012, 9:59 am
Canadian-Israeli detained for four days for army desertion
30-year old Yana Gorelik, visiting Israel, misses her cousin’s wedding while in jail
By Gabe Fisher
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