Moshe Gafni, chairman of Degel HaTorah, instructed party representatives in local authorities across Israel on Wednesday to immediately cease all cooperation with the Israel Police, including municipal policing services.
“So that we will not, God forbid, become partners in harming the holy Torah and those who study it," Gafni wrote in his letter, adding that the directive would remain in effect until further notice.
The unusual move follows a new directive recently issued by Police Commissioner Danny Levy stating that any draft evader encountered by police officers is to be detained and immediately transferred to military authorities - marking a significant policy change after years in which police largely avoided such arrests.
As part of the new policy, Israeli police reportedly arrested several yeshiva students classified as draft evaders overnight and handed them over to military police.
The central incident occurred around 1:00 a.m., when police stopped a vehicle allegedly driving recklessly on Route 60 near the community of Tel Zion in the Binyamin area. According to police, the car was swerving between lanes and endangering other drivers.
The driver, identified as a student of the Yeshivat Mishkan David in Jerusalem and referred to as Asban, was taken to the Sha’ar Binyamin police station, where he was identified through his vehicle registration as a draft evader and transferred to the military.
Asban later asked his friend Elisaf to come retrieve the vehicle. When Elisaf entered the station at police request to collect his friend’s belongings, he too was asked to identify himself and was arrested after authorities discovered he was also listed as a draft evader.
News of the double arrest spread rapidly through haredi alert networks, and dozens of protesters rushed to the Sha’ar Binyamin station. However, police transferred the detainees to the military detention facility in Anatot before demonstrators arrived.
As the hours passed, clashes at the station escalated. According to police, protesters overturned a police trailer, set cardboard boxes on fire, bent fences, and damaged an emergency exit door. Security forces responded with stun and smoke grenades. Demonstrators claimed the grenades were fired directly at them and caused injuries.
At the same time, another yeshiva student, Reuven Lamenatzeach from Kibbutz Givat Ze’ev Yeshiva in Beit Shemesh, was arrested and also handed over to the military. All three detainees were expected to appear before a military court at Prison 10 later in the day.
The tension later reached the home of a military officer as dozens of activists arrived at the residence of a security NCO from Prison 10 in Kiryat Ata, banging on his door and causing damage to the building’s entrance area.
IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir sharply condemned the incidents, saying: “This is a serious and unacceptable event. The IDF expects law enforcement authorities to act decisively against the rioters."