Israel Police Commissioner Danny Levy issued a directive on Monday according to which, when a police officer encounters a draft dodger by chance, the officer will detain the deserter, report to the Military Police, and wait until a representative from the Military Police arrives.
According to the Commissioner's decision, the new directive sets a clear time limit to deal with the detainees: a Military Police representative must arrive within 30 minutes from the moment of the report.
If the representative does not arrive within the allotted time, the officer will release the detainee and hand them a summons to appear before the Military Police.
The haredi Shas Party responded harshly to the directive, attacking the Commissioner and accusing him of persecuting "Torah students" instead of dealing with "real crime."
"At a time when acts of violence and crime are on the rise and murderers walk the streets freely, instead of the police tending to national security properly, they decide to direct resources to persecute the dear Torah students as if they were criminals," the party statement read. "It is shameful that this happens in the Jewish state."
The party addressed the Commissioner directly: "Sir Commissioner, don't fall into the political trap that the Attorney General and her team are leading, which aims to topple the government. Don't cast your hand against the yeshiva students and Torah learners."