Lithuanian-haredi leaders Rabbi Dov Lando and Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch are backing the haredi "Prison 1,000" initiative, which is intended to provide haredi draft evaders with 1,000 shekels for every day they spend in military prison, Kan Reshet Bet reported Wednesday morning.
The initiative's recent launch follows an increase in the arrests of young haredi draft evaders. It is intended to function as a form of insurance policy for draft evaders: Those who register for the initiative will pay small, regular sums into a shared fund, and if they are arrested, the fund will provide them with 1,000 shekels for every day spent in military prison.
According to the initiative's organizers, its purpose is to "take the sting out" of the arrest of a draft evader, so that a young haredi man will not fear being arrested and can take comfort in the financial payment he will receive.
Until now, the initiative had remained an effort led by a number of haredi rabbis and activists.
Now, after the organizers met with senior leaders of the Lithuanian haredi community and received their blessing, the initiative is gaining broader public support. Meetings were also held with former Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, who is the Shas party's spiritual leader.
According to the report, the support for the initiative is due to the ongoing struggle against the State's efforts to draft members of the haredi community into the IDF.