The political and legal controversy is escalating in Israel against the backdrop of the crisis in implementing the compulsory conscription law on members of the extremist “Haredi” movement, in light of a sharp decline in pre-emptive arrests of those wanted for military service, amid mutual accusations between the army and the police regarding responsibility for obstructing enforcement procedures.
In this context, last Saturday, four members of the Knesset from the opposition, namely: Efrat Reiten, Ram Ben Barak, Orit Farkash Hacohen, and Oded Forer, sent an official request to the Military Prosecutor General, Major General Itai Ophir, demanding clarifications and data about the extent of arrests of religious institute students who evaded service. This move comes after days of waiting for official answers regarding the reason for the cessation of pre-emptive arrests, amid parliamentary fears that the cessation of law enforcement following the Supreme Court’s cancellation of the law freezing arrests will lead to complete paralysis in the implementation of military duty.
According to a report by journalist Shilo Farid published on the Israeli “ynet” website, dozens of evaders are currently languishing in military prisons, but the vast majority of them were arrested through checkpoints at Ben Gurion Airport and not as a result of pre-emptive field arrest operations, which witnessed an almost complete halt during the last two months.
In explaining this decline, military sources pointed to the lack of sufficient cooperation from the Israeli police, explaining that military police members are unable to work in civilian areas without support and security insurance from the general police. On the other hand, the police responded by rejecting these accusations, stressing that this mission falls exclusively within the powers and responsibility of the military police.
For her part, the head of the “Democrats” parliamentary bloc, Efrat Reiten, stressed the necessity of the army’s commitment to implementing the law effectively and fairly, saying that the shameful law that froze the arrest of evaders had been judicially abolished, and that the army was required to perform its duty. She explained that limiting the arrest of evaders at Ben Gurion Airport raises deep fear that harms public confidence and justice toward hundreds of thousands of soldiers in regular service and the reserve who bear the greatest burden, stressing that the opposition will not allow the imposition of the duty of equal service to be overlooked.
On the other hand, the Israeli army denied the validity of the reports that it had completely stopped pre-emptive arrests. He confirmed in an official statement that the Military Police continues to carry out law enforcement operations in population centers, accompanied by the Israeli Police, in addition to strengthening manpower and intensifying preparations to arrest defaulters at border crossings, according to situation assessments.
While parliamentary correspondence continues and there has been an absence of decisive official responses so far, controversy remains about the reasons for the faltering pursuit of Haredi evaders on the ground, amid the opposition’s insistence on the necessity of imposing the rule of law without exception.
