The son of a well-known rosh yeshiva was briefly taken into a police vehicle during a protest in Ashdod on Thursday evening and later released. The incident occurred near a demonstration held over the arrest of an avreich, Reb Avraham Ben Dayan, and could have escalated into a major public controversy had events unfolded differently.

Earlier in the day, talmidim of Yeshivas Grodna in Ashdod gathered to protest the detention of Rabbi Ben Dayan. During the demonstration, participants attempted to block a roadway, leading to confrontations with passersby who sought to prevent the obstruction.

The situation nearly spiraled into a far more dramatic episode when the son of one of the country’s prominent roshei yeshiva, who studies at Yeshivas Me’irat Shmua in the city, happened to pass through the area. He became involved in a discussion that developed between the protesting students and bystanders regarding the ongoing conscription dispute.

Police units that arrived on the scene to disperse the protest detained approximately ten yeshiva students, placing them in a patrol vehicle and removing them from the immediate area. The move was described as part of a familiar crowd-control tactic used in similar incidents.

It was noted that the young man in question is considered a draft evader, as are many yeshiva students under current policy. Had he been formally arrested and transferred to military police custody, the episode could have turned into an unprecedented situation involving the detention of a leading rosh yeshiva’s son on account of his Torah studies.