In an exceptionally shocking incident for the world’s only Jewish state in 2026, the IDF openly admitted that it blatantly violated the most basic religious right of a newlywed avreich and prevented him from laying tefillin while in military custody for “draft dodging.”
After fierce public condemnations of the incident, the IDF spokesperson issued a statement admitting that the avreich, Avraham Ben Dayan, had requested to put on tefillin but ultimately did not do so “due to an unexpected delay in his intake.”
It should be noted that according to the family, Ben Dayan, who was arrested on Motzei Shabbos, asked multiple times throughout the day on Sunday to put on tefillin—not just once.
The IDF statement continued, “This is a highly exceptional case that is not in line with the IDF’s regulations. The IDF regrets the distress caused. Procedures at the prison have been clarified for immediate implementation, and the matter will be thoroughly investigated by commanders in order to prevent similar cases in the future.”
Since Ben Dayan’s arrest on Motzei Shabbos, two additional Bnei Torah were arrested and handed over to military police.
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
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14 Responses
YWN – who said the quote you have in the headline of this article? You have it as a quote – but the actual statements cited in the article are nothing like this – they are apologies for a situation and promises to make sure this does not happen again.
None of this is an excuse for preventing this particular draft dodger from putting on Tefilin, and there should be consequences for those who are responsible. But it’s important to be honest – something that would behoove a number of figures in Chareidi society and leadership to keep in mind too.
an Israeli Yid
It is clear that IDF cannot guarantee respect for Jewish observance in their midst. They further lost the public’s confidence with his incident.
It’s time to establish a Nuremberg trial to try all the Zionazis.
There will be no repercussions to the individuals involved in this heinous crime against a fellow Jew
I am not saying it was a Nazi who did it it could of been his friend but oh larasha oh lishcheino
I don’t know why YWN sounds so shocked. Israel has always been the most hating country towards Chareidim. They may have tried hiding it for a few years but that has always been the sad fact
This article is guilty of the same types of misrepresentations and shock language we rightfully call out Israel-hating news outlets for.
The headline makes it seem the IDF is proud of this incident.
“The IDF openly admitted.” makes it seem like they’re not embarrassed.
The reality, which is buried in the article, is that this was a rare mistake which the IDF has expressed unreserved regret for and it’s being investigated at the highest levels to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
Anyone who has been in the army (or has common sense) understands that it is a vast entity made up of hundreds of thousands of individuals from all backgrounds, levels of expertrise and ages.
The Military Police, in particular, doesn’t attract the most elite soldiers, and mistakes happen.
I think all your readers understood when the IDF made mistakes and killed Gaza civilians and even, lehavdil, when over a hundred IDF soldiers were killed in friendly fire incidents.
So let’s put this in proportion: A serious mistake was made and the IDF – which by and large has sensitivity to yidishkiet and the needs of frum soldiers – is taking it seriously so it doesn’t happen again.
Veshama Hasheker – This is the type of weasel language used by bureaucracies to cover their tracks. Delays, mistakes, “we’re looking into it”, yada yada. This wasn’t an accident. The IDF realized that arrests and military prison aren’t enough to deter the Chareidim, so they tried something they understood would be more painful, thinking this would be a better deterrent. יהי רצון that the Goyim should do to them what they do to us, plus interest.
VH: The Wehrmacht claimed the same excuses.
Joseph Goebbels,
You should be deported to Germany, tried and jailed for being an anti-Semitic Nazi, just like your close relative was. You’re not even Jewish!
Big deal. No tefillin no big deal. What about public chillul shabbos. What about gay parades. What about that. Thats capital offenses.
Veshama…. If they take it seriously that it doesn’t happen again they would create a deterrence by severely punishing any and all individuals who had anything to do with the intentional preventing of someone from putting on tefilin after his wife said they had asked numerous times and were denied
The fact that there will be no repercussions is proof that this is all lip service and they don’t care nor respect the persons religious choice, as if any of us needed any more proof of that.
These are the people we should trust with the soldiers spiritual well-being. There’s a reason our rabbis speak about them like the plague. They weren’t born yesterday we’ve seen enough of their hatred for religion, it’s time to listen to the rabbanim instead of questioning them like apikorsim here
So why are all the boys detained treated so horribly? I’ve read enough interviews and enough of their rabbis have spoken out that many Arabs in jail convicted of actual Terror are not treated as badly as some of these boys. Maybe it’s some kind of State vengeance for not cooperating with the Supreme Courts dirty agenda? Maybe it’s some kind of disdain for Judaism that doesn’t exist with Islam? Go ahead and try and answer what is going on here. They have a lot to apologize for not just one incident
It was deliberate. There are two separate agendas with different goals. The secular population’s goal (Bagatz, the IDF, the leftists) is to secularize every religious soldier, whether dati or chareidi. Whether they try to achieve their goals through the front door, back door, or side door, with a wide variety of tactics – that is their goal. I don’t know the percentage of soldiers who removed their kippah or downsized it (from a large one that covered a good deal of their head to the Bennett-style Pepsi-Cola cap) during their army service, but it is not insignificant. The secularists are out to do that to chareidi soldiers as well. While they speak of “sharing the burden”, that’s not really what they care about. Ideologically, some of their own do not serve. The national-religious public is a different story. They really do care about sharing the burden, and to them, because the Medina has religious significance, serving in the army is a religious duty, despite the great religious risk it entails, in too many cases, weakening both Torah study and observance. That is not to say that there are not dati and especially chardali soldiers who remain strong in their religious observance, and who care deeply about Torah study. It is saying that they are willing to take that risk due to their idealism about the Medina (which the secular public has lost, to a great extent). They do not accept the chareidi stance that 1) full-time Torah learning provides essential protection to the public in Israel, and leaving it would endanger the public way more than army service would promote it 2) the Torah is the central ideal, rather than the State, and serving the Medina cannot be an excuse for risking one’s level of spirituality. The IDF cannot and does not want to ensure that the religious needs of its soldiers. For the national religious public, that is not enough of a reason to avoid service in the IDF. For chareidim, it’s a red line that cannot be crossed.