Several senior IDF officers toured the city of Bnei Brak on Tuesday in order to get an inside look at the hareidi-religious community. They were led by municipal officials from the city, including the mayor, who explained the hareidi way of life.

During the tour the officers stopped in the Ponevezh Yeshiva and spoke to the Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Yosef Kahanaman, and with Torah scholars. Beit Shemesh Mayor Moshe Abutbul took them around the building and explained the hareidi approach to full-time Torah study.

The tour comes in wake of tension over the prospect of an IDF draft on hareidi Torah students, who have previously been exempt from service.