JERUSALEM — The Israel Defense Forces apologized Monday to a Haredi man arrested as a draft dodger after he was prevented from wearing tefillin for several hours during his detention.

Avraham Ben Dayan, 23, a recent yeshiva graduate and newlywed, was taken into custody Saturday night at a police checkpoint in southern Israel. The IDF said he remained in detention overnight and was only allowed to don tefillin late in the afternoon.

“The detainee was ultimately unable to wear tefillin due to an unexpected delay in processing,” an IDF spokesperson said. “This is an extremely rare case and not in line with IDF regulations. We regret the distress caused and have clarified procedures to prevent similar incidents.”

Ben Dayan’s family said they were repeatedly denied the ability to deliver his tefillin during transfers between detention facilities in Netivot, Ofakim, and Sde Teyman. They described the delays as a severe violation of religious practice.

Lawmakers and religious leaders criticized the handling of the case. MK Moshe Gafni, chairman of the Degel HaTorah party, called it “hatred towards everything Jewish” and said he would raise the matter with the defense minister.

Ben Dayan was sentenced to 10 days in military prison. His attorney, Shlomo Hadad, has filed an appeal seeking his early release.