Three yeshiva bochurim were handed over to the Military Police overnight Tuesday after being detained by Israel Police under the new policy announced by Police Commissioner Danny Levy to transfer every “draft evader” to the Military Police.

One of the arrests took place in Beit Shemesh, where Reuven Lamenatzeach, a talmid of the Kibbutz Givat Ze’ev Yeshiva, was detained at the local police station and handed over to the Military Police.

The other two arrests took place in the Binyamin area, where two bochurim were arrested one after the other. The incident began shortly after 1:00 a.m., when a police vehicle stopped near the yishuv of Tel Tzion and detained Yaakov Asban, a 21-year-old talmid at Yeshivas Mishkan Dovid in Jerusalem, ordering him to accompany officers to the regional police station in Sha’ar Binyamin.

Asban had not committed a traffic offense, and no reason for the detention was given to him at the time. Only after arriving at the station was he informed that he was being handed over to the Military Police due to his status as a “draft evader.” According to the Am Kadosh organization, police identification systems are now capable of automatically identifying vehicle owners classified as military service “evaders.”

Asban contacted his friend, Yaakov Elisaf, and asked him to come retrieve the car left at the station. But that move also ended in another arrest. When Elisaf entered the station to collect his friend’s belongings and identify himself to the police, the system showed that he too carried the same status, and he was arrested on the spot.

At that stage, protesters who received alerts on the hotline systems began arriving at the Sha’ar Binyamin police station, but it was already too late—the bochurim had already been transferred to the nearby military detention facility in Anatot.

The protest outside the station quickly escalated into loud clashes. According to eyewitnesses, police used stun grenades and smoke grenades in an attempt to disperse the crowd. Protesters claimed some of the grenades were fired directly at participants and caused injuries. The protest continued for a long time in opposition to cooperation between the police and the Military Police, which could endanger tens of thousands of Lomdei Torah in the coming months.

The Notnim Gav organization said that the alerts to emergency hotlines came at a relatively late stage, and therefore, the protesters did not manage to arrive in time to prevent the handover.

Also overnight Tuesday, Peleg Yerushalmi held a protest outside the home of the commander of Prison 10 in Kiryat Ata.

This was the third consecutive night that bnei yeshivos were arrested by police officers and handed over to military police.

“The authorities are refining their methods of hunting and persecuting bnei yeshivos with remarkable diligence,” the Am Kadosh organization stated. “It is becoming clear to everyone that, according to the State of Israel, Limmud Torah study and adherence to the Chareidi way of life is the greatest crime of all. Israel is becoming the only country in the world persecuting Lomdei Torah and people of faith and throwing them into prison like common criminals.”

On Tuesday evening, Shak MK Michael Malkieli launched a sharp attack against Police Commissioner Danny Levy, saying, “Instead of dealing with rising crime and murderers roaming freely, you are sending Israel Police officers to harass Lomdei Torah.”

“Police Commissioner Danny Levy — a hero against the weak! Suddenly, before the elections, you decided to join forces with the Attorney General to flatter her in the hope that they won’t oust you after the elections.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)