Dozens detained at “Ben Gurion”airport on suspicion of evading military service

QUDS, Oct. 20 (YPA) – Dozens of Haredi students were detained at “Ben Gurion” Airport on Tuesday on suspicion of evading Israeli occupation’s military service after returning from the United States, where they had spent a year studying at the Chabad world headquarters, 770, in New York.

Yedioth Ahronoth reported that authorities confiscated some of the young men’s passports during airport inspections and informed them that they were suspected of evading compulsory military service.

According to the newspaper, the students initially believed they would be allowed to continue their journeys, assuming the military police could not arrest such a large number of suspects at once. They were later told they would be detained for disciplinary reasons.

The developments come amid rising tensions over the conscription of Haredi Jews. Recent weeks have seen violent protests against the arrest of religious seminary students accused of evading military service.

Last Sunday, protesters from the Jerusalem Faction blocked Highway 4 near Yavne to protest the arrest of two young men accused of draft evasion after they were sentenced to 20 days in military prison.

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