Senior haredi rabbis arrived at the gates of Military Prison 10 on Sunday and entered with permission to visit haredi draft dodgers, including yeshiva students, who were arrested in recent days.
The IDF's decision to allow rabbis who are vocal opponents to enlistment to the IDF to enter and encourage draft dodgers garnered harsh criticism.
In response, the IDF stated that the first visit, last Thursday by Lithuanian (non-hassidic) haredi leader Rabbi Dove Lando, was unauthorized: "The rabbi's entry to the military prison last Thursday was done without authorization."
The IDF explained: "Based on this mistake, rabbis arrived at the entrance to the prison today as well and demanded to enter to visit the detainees. To refrain from unnecessary clashes, it was decided to go beyond the letter of the law and allow them to enter."
The IDF also stated that "due to the incidents, the IDF conducted a comprehensive inquiry and will work to ensure that the guidelines of the prison base pertaining to prisoner visits are enforced equally and fully, and that incidents such as these do not repeat themselves."