Dozens of Chabad bochurim returning home after a year of learning at the Central Chabad Yeshiva at 770 Eastern Parkway were detained at Ben Gurion Airport on Tuesday morning over unresolved military draft status.
The bochurim, members of the 5786 Kvutza, were among approximately 80 students aboard the flight. At passport control, border authorities and military police stopped the group, confiscated their passports, and separated them from other passengers as their cases were processed. Some were later placed aboard a minibus for transfer to a military induction facility, while families who had come to welcome their sons home waited anxiously at the airport.
According to reports in the Israeli media, dozens of the detainees were subsequently released, while others were transferred to military custody. Under current policy, detainees who agree to enlist receive a suspended sentence and begin their service, while those who refuse face military prison.
The Chabad Rabbinical Court in Eretz Yisroel confirmed it had been working with the relevant authorities even before the flight arrived. “Preparations were also made ahead of the flight’s arrival this morning, both through direct contact with the families and with all relevant authorities,” Chabad spokesman R’ Shimi Segal said in a statement, adding that the Rabbonim are working “to ensure that the students receive humane treatment and, after their status with the military authorities is resolved, are released as quickly as possible to their homes and families.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the detentions in an interview with Kol Barama radio, calling them “unacceptable.” “We must preserve the world of Torah, because it is what preserved us,” Netanyahu said, charging that the arrests were “a deliberate attempt to undermine the process of recruiting Charedim without coercion.” He added: “I have great respect for the world of Torah, but someone who is not learning should go and enlist.”
MK Meir Porush said he is in contact with officials in the IDF and Defense Ministry to assist the bochurim, calling the detentions “contrary to the Law of Return.” UTJ chairman MK Yaakov Asher warned of “a deliberate attempt to create chaos and disrupt the elections.”
The IDF defended the enforcement action, saying the students “are required to enlist and will face legal proceedings in accordance with the law,” and that it “will continue to enforce the Defense Service Law equally.”
