Overview
- A student from Yeshivas Sefas Emes was classified as a draft evader and sentenced to 20 days in Military Prison No. 10 after appearing at military induction offices on three consecutive days in an effort to regularize his status, according to community sources.
- Thousands of Gerer chassidim gathered for a mass tefillah and protest led by the Gerer Rebbe on Monday evening, with organizers urging peaceful conduct and obeying marshals.
- The prison rally became dangerously overcrowded, demonstrators breached the compound fence, and authorities suspended the event while United Torah Judaism chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf used loudspeakers to restore order.
- Organizers canceled a planned larger protest at Attorney General Gali Baharav‑Miara’s Tel Aviv home, but about 200 Hasidim still arrived overnight and several physical and verbal confrontations were reported.
- Gerer leaders and prison advocates are pressing for the student’s early release, disputing the military’s handling and raising the prospect of expanded demonstrations at other draft and induction sites, including Meitav, as part of a broader fight over conscription exemptions for bnei yeshiva.