Kol Chai Radio host Betzalel Kahan reported on Tuesday morning that a Chareidi high school girl was arrested on Sunday by military police on her way to fly to her brother’s wedding in France.

When she arrived at Ben Gurion Airport, she was told by border control authorities that she was wanted by the military authorities, as her status had not been properly documented.

As is known, Chareidi (and all religious) girls can easily obtain an exemption from the army, and it is usually taken care of by the staff at Chareidi high schools. However, her documents were not in order, and according to Kol Chai, it was due to a mistake on the part of the IDF.

Nevertheless, she was transferred to a military prison and, as of Tuesday, has spent two nights behind bars despite the fact that Chareidi girls are not required to serve in the army and she is not classified as a “draft-dodger.”

In addition, the military police have stepped up proactive attempted arrests of bnei yeshivos. Since the beginning of the week, the military police have knocked on the doors of the homes of bnei yeshivos in Netivot and Kiryat Ata.

All the arrest attempts failed after dozens of protesters were called in and the military police left the scene. In one case in Netivot, a yeshivah bochur leapt from the porch to escape arrest.

Many Chareidi Sephardi journalists have complained that so far, all arrests and attempted arrests have been carried out against Sephardi bnei yeshivos. Kikar H’Shabbat reported that the military police have not knocked on even one home of an Ashkenazi ben yeshivah, Litvish or Chassidish, except for ba’alei teshuvah.

An IDF source claimed in a conversation with Kikar, “We are not acting intentionally against Sephardim, but due to the decision not to operate in Chareidi cities, we operate in mixed cities and neighborhoods, and naturally, mostly Sephardim reside there.”

Kahan addressed this issue as well, saying, “Are the arrests specifically against Sephardi bochurim? In the army they say there is no connection and they come randomly, according to lists. I don’t believe them. I can’t understand how, out of all the arrests in homes, they come to the homes of specifically Sephardim. What does the army have against Sephardim? What is this?”

Kikar quoted a source from the home of one of the senior members of the Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah of Shas, who said there is great anger at the conduct of the IDF, which is only carrying out enforcement operations against Sephardim. “Discrimination has also entered the IDF. We are against any arrest, but if they decide to carry out arrests, why is it only against our bochurim? And where is Shas? Why are our representatives silent about this injustice?”

Last month, HaGaon HaRav Yitzchak Yosef slammed the arrest of Sephardi bnei yeshivos, saying, “They arrest mainly Sephardim; they know that the mother is weak, the father is weak. They go and arrest bnei yeshivos in the middle of the night, knocking hard on the door. What is this, Russia? Is there a communist regime here? Bolsheviks?

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)