MK Meir Porush (United Torah Judaism) sent a letter to US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, calling on the US administration to intervene in Israeli domestic policy to prevent the arrests of haredim who evade military service.
In the letter, titled “Urgent Request for the Protection of Yeshiva students in Israel in Honor of ‘Jewish American Heritage Month,’" Porush praised the US administration and President Donald Trump for their support of the Jewish people and Jewish tradition.
“Throughout the generations, the United States has proven itself to be a nation that can be defined as ‘Righteous Among the Nations,’" Porush wrote.
He added that under President Trump, “we see an administration that also honors the Torah of the Jewish people, cherishes its values, and works tirelessly for the security and prosperity of the Jewish people."
Porush contrasted what he described as American respect for Jewish tradition with the treatment of haredi draft evaders in Israel.
“While in the US, the government goes out of its way to celebrate and honor the Jewish religion and heritage, in Israel, the military and judicial authorities act in ways of persecution and arrests against yeshiva students whose sole occupation is Torah study," he wrote.
According to Porush, “If the American government, through all its branches, finds it appropriate to honor the Jewish religion and respect its values, it is only fitting that the authorities in the State of Israel act with similar respect toward yeshiva students, who have been the guardians of our people's eternal flame for thousands of years."
Porush called on Huckabee to have the US government “exercise its moral influence and call upon the judicial authorities in Israel to immediately and completely cease the arrests of Torah scholars and yeshiva students."
“There is no more fitting time than ‘Jewish Heritage Month’ to clarify that the protection of yeshiva students is a supreme Jewish and democratic value," he wrote.