Yisrael Frey, a far-left chareidi journalist whose inflammatory celebration of the deaths of five IDF soldiers sparked national outrage, was released to house arrest earlier today following a week of detention in a high-security prison.
Frey, who had been held under the rare designation of a “security prisoner,” will remain confined to his home until at least Friday, according to police.
Frey’s arrest followed a tweet in which he said, “The world is a better place” after five Israeli soldiers were killed by roadside bombs in Gaza. Four of the soldiers belonged to the Netzah Yehuda battalion, a unit composed largely of frum troops.
“The world is a better place this morning,” Frey wrote, “without five young men who partook in one of the most brutal crimes against humanity.” He went on to say that “this is a call to every Israeli mother: Do not be the next to receive your son in a coffin as a war criminal. Refuse.”
The tweet drew furious condemnation from across the political spectrum, with families of the fallen soldiers calling his remarks “inhuman” and “beyond the pale.”
At the request of the prosecution, police sought to place Frey under full house arrest with unspecified “additional restrictions.” Details of those restrictions have not been made public.
The decision to hold Frey in a security wing of the prison system was made by Israel Prison Service chief Kobi Yaakobi and received public backing from National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who has repeatedly pushed for harsher treatment of those accused of incitement during wartime.
While critics argue that Frey’s arrest and detention signal a crackdown on free speech, supporters say his remarks crossed every line of decency — particularly at a time when the country is mourning its dead and IDF soldiers are risking their lives in Gaza.
For now, Frey remains confined at home, under police surveillance and with his social media presence effectively silenced.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
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15 Responses
why did they let him off prison
he should have a life sentence
For all those who are so influenced by the non-Jewish American concept of “free speech” and want to apply it her, please note that even in the US during wartime, free speech can be curtailed when it undermines national security The Espionage Act of 1917 criminalizes “causing or attempting to cause insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty” in the armed forces.
what a vedge give him to alcatraz
He is certainly not Charedi. Celebrating the deaths of yidden protecting yidden. Check his yichus. I cannot even believe he is really a yid.
Despicable
What’s the story with this guy?
Chareidi?!! Saying Kaddish for Palestinians is definitely לא תשא
שמות רשעים…
Put hom under housecarrest in Gaza
Israel never had free speech. They are and have always been an authoritarian state.
smerel: He never caused any national security harm, nor was he ever accused of such.
He simply hurt people’s feelings. So the supreme leaders of the state decided to hurt him back by arresting him.
Of course, he is Charedi. Let us not be like Muslims who are afraid to face reality and say, “Not Muslim. No terrorist who murders innocents can be a Muslim.” Yisrael Frey is indeed Charedi.
I read up on him. Apparently he’s from an illustrious family of Hassidim. Unfortunately, he’s got a lot of loose screws in his head. It’s a good thing that his grandfather, Rabbi Yehuda Meir Abramowicz, is not alive to see the shame that this grandson is blackening the family reputation with.
Note: He lives in Bnei Brak and apparently, the community is disgusted with him and protested outside his house. You can read details on line. He may wear a black kippah and perhaps even keep Shabbos, but he’s a far cry from being called a Hareidi. A person who calls Rabbis “scum” does not deserve the title “Hareidi”. He’s a Maskil in Black clothing!
Unfortunately, he isn’t saying anything different from what we in KJ aren’t saying among ourselves, this anti-Zionist culture has to be obliterated ASAP!
Joseph,
So you’d be fine with posters on YWN writing that the world will be a better place when you die horribly, that world Jewry will all dance and celebrate on receiving the blessed news?
First, join me in wishing Reb Yisrael Frey a refuah sheleima from his illness.
Second, Reb Yisrael Frey is almost guaranteed a place among the “Big Kahunas” of the Eruv Rav.