A senior Knesset member has lodged an urgent complaint with the defense minister following what he described as serious failures in the treatment of chareidi detainees held at a military prison.

MK Yonatan Mashriki, former chairman of the Knesset Health Committee, sent a sharply worded letter on Wednesday to Defense Minister Yisroel Katz after visiting Military Prison 10. During the visit, Mashriki met with three yeshiva students who were detained in connection with the ongoing dispute over the legal status of yeshiva enrollment.

According to Mashriki, the detainees reported that for three consecutive days they were not provided with mehadrin kosher food, despite explicitly requesting meals that conform to their strictly observant lifestyle. As a result, they were at times left without adequate nutrition altogether.

In his letter, Mashriki described the situation as unacceptable and said it amounted to a severe violation of basic rights. He stressed that access to food is a fundamental right anchored in Israel’s Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, which guarantees the protection of every person’s life and dignity. He also cited High Court rulings that obligate the state to hold detainees under appropriate conditions, including providing food of sufficient quantity and suitable composition to safeguard both health and human dignity.

Mashriki urged the defense minister to intervene immediately. He called for a thorough investigation into the claims raised during his visit, strict enforcement of prison procedures regarding the provision of mehadrin kosher food and adherence to the laws of kashrus, and a detailed report outlining the findings and corrective steps to be taken.

In response, an IDF spokesperson said that mehadrin kosher meals are supplied daily to detainees. According to the statement, a temporary shortage of mehadrin meat meals led to the provision of mehadrin vegetarian alternatives. The spokesperson added that the issue has since been addressed and supplies have been replenished.

{Matzav.com}

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