Mass detention at the airport in Israel: More than 40 Haredi detained

In the news of Israeli state television KAN, it was stated that the Haredis who were detained by the military police at Ben-Gurion Airport on the grounds that they were deserters belonged to the Chabad-Lubavitch movement.

The news noted that more than 40 Chabad-Lubavitch members, who returned to the country after completing their one-year training in New York, were put on buses and taken to Tel Hashomer Military Base near Tel Aviv.

It was stated in the news that detained Haredis would first be offered the option of joining the army, and that those who did not accept this would be subject to sanctions such as probation and imprisonment.

The news also stated that the Israeli army's military police unit is preparing to mass detain Haredis who are expected to return from the USA in recent days, on the grounds that they are deserters.

In the statement made by the Israeli army, it was stated that those detained were "under military obligation and will be tried in accordance with the law."

On the other hand, according to Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an interview with an Israeli radio station, claimed that the arrests of Haredim were "a deliberate attempt to harm the military recruitment process without coercion."

The news claimed that the arrest was against the law regarding the detention of Haredi people, which came into force to prevent political debates during the election period.

Aryeh Deri, leader of the Haredi Shas Party, also made the same point, arguing that this was a political intervention to fuel debate during the election period and condemned the detention of Haredi people at the airport.

In another report by Yedioth Ahronoth, it was noted that the number of military evaders in Israel was 76 thousand 809 and that 437 people were detained for this reason in 2026.

The news stated that approximately 83 percent of Israeli deserters were Haredi men.

In Israel, which has a population of approximately 10 million, Haredim make up approximately 13 percent of the population. Haredim refuse to serve in the military on religious grounds.

On June 25, 2024, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that there was no legal basis for the exemption of Haredim from military service in Israel, where everyone performs compulsory military service.

Haredi parties in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government strongly opposed this decision and increased pressure to prepare a new compulsory military service law.

The failure to reach a consensus on the law in question caused a political crisis in the country.