10 Lubavitcher Bochurim Arrested After Visiting Draft Office

A group of approximately ten bochurim from Shiur Gimmel in Tzfas yeshiva, who are planning to travel to the Rebbe for Kevutza in 5788, were arrested after voluntarily reporting to the military draft office to clarify their status in advance.

They were tried for draft evasion and sentenced to between 18 and 25 days in military prison.

The bochurim had approached the authorities on the advice of knowledgeable askonim, who recommended that they report to the draft office on their own initiative to resolve their status before it became an obstacle to leaving Eretz Yisroel.

Rather than assisting them in resolving the matter, officials took advantage of their voluntary appearance, arrested them, brought them before a military judge, and sent them to prison.

Chabad askonim have been working in recent hours to assist the bochurim and are in contact with the office of Defence Minister Yisrael Katz.

The case comes just weeks after more than 40 bochurim were arrested at Ben Gurion Airport upon returning from their year of Kevutza at 770. The bochurim were eventually released following intervention by askonim, but 27 were forced to commit to enlistment as a condition of their release, while another 13 were ordered to appear for military hearings or face trial.

These incidents follow the cancellation of the longstanding arrangement that allowed Chabad bochurim to complete their yeshiva studies, including their year of Kevutza, before entering the military at a later age. For years, more than a thousand Chabad chassidim served under that framework.

Four alternative proposals submitted by the Beis Din Rabbonei Chabad were rejected, and although Minister Yisrael Katz instructed the IDF in June to formulate a replacement arrangement, none has yet been put in place.

At the time, Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu said that “today’s arrests only harm recruitment and harm the charedim who do enlist,” noting that most Chabad chassidim do enlist and share the burden.

Many in the community are infuriated by the way the situation is being handled. In this latest case, the bochurim did precisely what they had been advised to do, approaching the authorities openly and well in advance, only to be met with arrest and imprisonment.

Many feel that their good faith was taken advantage of, and that there is little incentive for other bochurim to come forward when doing so can land them in jail.

With no replacement arrangement in place, more bochurim in yeshivos across Eretz Yisroel, as well as those preparing to travel for Kevutza, are facing the same uncertainty.