In an unusual and dramatic move, Degel HaTorah chairman MK Moshe Gafni instructed the party’s representatives in municipalities across Israel to immediately suspend cooperation with the Israel Police, including municipal policing frameworks, until further notice.
The directive comes amid mounting outrage in the chareidi community following a recent change in police policy under Israel Police Commissioner Danny Levy, under which Israeli police have begun transferring yeshiva bochurim detained during encounters with law enforcement to the military police over draft-related issues.
“We must not, chalilah, become partners in harming the holy Torah and those who learn it,” Gafni wrote in a sharply worded letter sent to Degel HaTorah representatives throughout the country.
The move follows a wave of arrests involving yeshiva students over the past several days. During the last night alone, at least three yeshiva bochurim were reportedly handed over to military authorities after being detained by Israeli police.
Among those arrested was Reuven Lemanztach, a bochur from Yeshivas Kibbutz Givat Zev, who was reportedly detained on Route 1 before being transferred to the military police.
As previously reported, the rosh yeshiva of the detained bochur, Rav Dovid Baron, delivered an emotional shmuess in response to the arrest.
“We are living through the darkest periods, like the era of the Romans,” Rav Baron said. “I saw the bochur at the end of third seder, and in the morning they woke me to tell me he had been arrested.”
The growing tensions have also spilled into the Knesset, where members of United Torah Judaism sharply criticized Religious Zionist coalition partners over their boycott of a vote on the daycare subsidy bill.
UTJ faction chairman MK Uri Maklev said, “The fact that Likud cannot even assemble a majority for the most elementary and humane matter — daycare for innocent babies — proves that there is no real bloc.”
Gafni himself lashed out at what he described as increasing hostility toward the chareidi public.
“The hatred against the chareidi community is causing them to lose all sense and is also harming the working and weaker segments of the population,” Gafni said, emphasizing that the daycare legislation had long been considered a basic and widely accepted measure intended to assist women entering the workforce.
MK Yoav Ben Tzur also addressed the matter during a Knesset speech, questioning the treatment of yeshiva students by authorities.
“Who exactly are you arresting?” Ben Tzur asked. “Outstanding bochurim who have never encountered police because they are law-abiding citizens? The chareidi public and its leadership respect IDF soldiers.”
Israeli police, however, defended their actions, claiming that one of the bochurim transferred to military custody had first been stopped after allegedly driving recklessly on Route 60, weaving between lanes and seriously endangering himself and others on the road.
According to police, a background check revealed that the suspect was absent from military service obligations, leading to his transfer to IDF authorities.
Police also stated that following the arrest, dozens of protesters arrived at the Binyamin police station and launched what authorities described as a violent disturbance that included overturning a police trailer, setting cardboard boxes on fire, and bending security fences. Officers, together with riot police and Border Police forces, acted to disperse the crowd.
(At very many of Matazv’s articles on Chareidi Draft, I posted the following remarks. BE’H, I will post them again here, as they are quite important to keep in mind in this very serious, continuing crises.)
For very many years through the 1960’s and early 1970’s, the US military fought a very fierce war in the south-eastern region of Asia, mainly in the small country of Vietnam. The declared purpose of the war was extremely noble: to stop the spread of evil Communism in that area. However, there were many indications that the action had very little to do with the noble cause of stopping Communism, and, on the contrary, had many aspects that were exceedingly NOT noble.
When the American people saw this, vast numbers fiercely opposed their government’s action, declaring it an “immoral war.” Countless young men deliberately burnt their draft cards and went to Canada, where they would be away from US police who wanted to arrest them for breaking US conscription laws.
Massive demonstrations were held in many major US cities at which protestors vehemently shouted absolute defiance of the draft and insults of the then US president, Lyndon Baines Johnson, who was often called by his “LBJ” initials:
“(GEIHINOM) NO!!” “WE WON’T GO!!” and
“HEY!!” “HEY!!” “L!!” “B!!” “J!!”
“HOW MANY BOYS DID YOU KILL TODAY!!”
The Vietnam episode was a very long one; its earliest beginnings were over three centuries before in 1658. The numerous stages of its development and events were exceedingly complicated. So, to fully relate it and properly analyze what was & what was not noble about it, is a highly advanced endeavor that is far beyond the scope of our comments here.
What is relevant for us is that the US Government proclaimed a noble sounding “call to arms” (to stop Communism) with Vietnam. The problem though, was that “stopping Communism” was not what was being done, and much of what was being done was not noble. When this was realized, people strongly rejected their government’s call.
In the State of Israel today — and pretty much since its founding close to eighty years ago — the state’s government has proclaimed a “call to arms” to join its IDF for the extremely noble purpose of defending the Jewish homeland and ensuring that it will be a country where Jews are safe & secure & protected. However, just like with Vietnam, where there were indications that the campaign was not really about its stated noble goal, so with Israel & its IDF, there are indications that the campaign is also not really about its stated noble goal.
Probably the biggest of these indications was the episode of Simchas Torah – October 7, 2023. Throughout the preceding period, the administration of the government & its IDF ignored & dismissed & rejected numerous warnings of the gigantic attack the Hamas was planning. When, on October 7 itself, the Hamas operatives massively breached the border and poured into Israel, the government & its IDF took no action to try to stop them. Instead, they stood aside, while the Hamas agents, with the most sadistic cruelty, slashed & burned & killed well over a thousand Jews and brazenly abducted several hundreds more.
The government & its IDF thus glaringly showed that, very tragically, they do not truly care about protecting Jews & keeping them safe in any kind of a Jewish “homeland.” So, now that, more than ever, they are proclaiming this “call to arms” for the noble goal of protecting Jewish safety, that stated goal cannot really be what is truly their goal, for “protecting Jewish safety” is not what they have been doing.
Government & IDF officials have openly admitted & brazenly bragged that they DELIBERATELY set up the extensive intrapersonal settings of their military in ways that will lead & encourage & cause recruits — who often come with wonderful high religious/moral beliefs & values that were instilled in them by their families & communities — to fully ignore & shed & discard & negate & reject those beautiful sacred beliefs & values and do terrible deeds that are the exact opposite of those beliefs & values.
So, here are open admissions from IDF directors themselves, of what is a key goal of their campaign to induct masses of Israel youth into their IDF. It is to take the young recruits — who often come with wonderful high religious/moral beliefs & values that were instilled in them by their families & communities — and remake them & reconstruct them into totally different people. Yes, a key goal of IDF service is to retrain & re-educate & reform & reformulate Israel youth into people who do not have high religious/moral beliefs & values, who do not believe in Hashem & His Torah, and who would readily do things that are the exact opposite of Torah.
Again, THIS is what is being done, and it is, obviously, the epitome of what is exceedingly of exceedingly of exceedingly NOT noble!!
Therefore, we of the Chareidi/B’nei Torah world today must learn from those many millions of American people of nearly sixty years ago, who were immensely appalled at the falsities of the Vietnam campaign. They saw that it was not truly about it stated noble goal of doing good things for the world (with stopping Communism) but was, on the contrary, doing bad things for the world. They thus absolutely refused to join it and, instead, conducted massive vehement public protests against it.
Likewise, we too must be immensely appalled at the falsities of the Join-the-IDF campaign. We must realize that it is not about its stated noble goal of doing good things for the world (with PROTECTING Am Yisroel); on the contrary, it is about the very not noble goal of doing very bad things for the world with REMOVING Torah from Am Yisroel and remaking Am Yisroel into what is weakened & twisted & wreaked & destroyed, Rachmana Litzlan. Therefore, we must absolutely refuse to join it in any way or form and, instead, must conduct massive vehement public protests against it.