A day after thousands of Gur hasidim held a protest rally outside the military prison in Beit Lid, the haredi struggle against yeshiva students' conscription and the detention of draft-dodgers is set to resume Thursday night at the same location.
Thousands of students and alumni of the Sephardic "Be'er HaTalmud" yeshiva are expected to arrive at the prison gates at 7:00 PM by organized buses, protesting the arrest of a yeshiva student who studied at the institution.
The demonstration follows the arrest of Aviel Cohen (22), a yeshiva student from Netivot, who was detained by police and the military police for failing to report for conscription.
Cohen was arrested at a gas station at the Gilat Junction near Ofakim, in front of his wife. The arrest immediately sparked a response on the ground, with dozens of protesters blocking Highway 25 and Highway 241 in the south for several hours.
Senior leaders of the yeshiva are expected to participate in the evening protest, including Shas Council of Torah Sages member Rabbi Yehuda Cohen and his son, Yeshiva head Rabbi Hanoch Cohen.
Meanwhile, Shas MK Moshe Abutbul visited Prison 10 on Thursday and met with about ten of the detained haredim, including Cohen.
Attorney Shlomo Hadad from the legal department of the "Chayei Olam" organization, which assists haredi draft candidates, accompanied the visit. During the meeting, the detainees raised a series of complaints regarding their detention conditions, and party representatives held a situation assessment and discussed the matter with the prison commander.
Concluding the visit, MK Abutbul stated: "We came to strengthen and support the Torah learners. We heard from them about the difficulties and their desire to return to the study hall. The entire Shas movement stands behind them, and we are acting under the leadership of party chairman Aryeh Deri to halt the arrests."