Peleg protestors were out in the streets of Jerusalem this week, once again protesting the continued incarceration of bochur Meir Elyashiv, who was apprehended at the Bnei Torah election headquarters in Modi’in Illit and has since been jailed for failing to report for military service. It is pointed out the protest this week was spontaneous, and since 21 Menachem Av 5778, the Peleg has not organized any protests in Yerushalayim, but rather in Bnei Brak and other venues.

According to a Kikar Shabbos News report, this is due to a secret agreement that was reached about three and a half months ago between the Peleg and Jerusalem police, by which 14 bochrim arrested at a protest would not be turned over to military police by Israel Police, but released from detention.

On 21 Menachem Av, hundreds took the streets at Sarei Yisrael and the junction of Yaffa Street on behalf of imprisoned bochur Nissim Rada, who was released by military authorities ahead of Rosh Hashanah. Police arrested 51 protestors, and when their identity numbers were run through the system, police learned fourteen of them were wanted by military authorities for failing to report for duty. Most of the detainees were released, with the exception of the fourteen wanted by military police.

Peleg officials entered into negotiations with police, and it was agreed that if police release the fourteen rather than turning them over to IDF authorities, the Peleg leaders promised there would not be any protests in the capital until at least following Tishrei Yomim Tovim. By agreeing to this, the fourteen bochrim were spared being brought before a military court and then imprisoned for being AWOL from the IDF.

Kikar News adds that when it tried to obtain verification of such a deal with Peleg officials, their response was, “We don’t remember what occurred three months ago”.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)