A yeshiva bochur, Nehorai Becher, a talmid of the Chazon Mordechai yeshiva in Herzliya, was arrested in an unusual and unprecedented manner on Monday afternoon by the military police.

His arrest came hours after a previous arrest of a yeshivah bochur in Jerusalem, the first such arrest since the start of Operating Roaring Lion.

According to reports by organizations that assist Chareidi “deserters,” Becher was in the yeshiva’s Beis Medrash learning when he received a phone call, purportedly from a delivery company, and was asked to step outside to “collect a package.” When he went outside, military police officers pounced on him. After arresting him, they transferred him to the Tel HaShomer military detention facility.

The Nosnim Gav organization stated that “this is an unprecedented event of an arrest within the walls of a yeshiva, and a continuation of the declaration of war on Chareidi Judaism and lomdei Torah, in addition to the arrest that was carried out last night at a home in the Gilo neighborhood of Jerusalem.”

One of the Peleg Yerushalmi factions announced that it will take to the streets on Tuesday in mass protests.

The Keren For Combating the Draft Decree stated: “The persecution of the Olam HaTorah is intensifying, against the backdrop of yesterday’s High Court ruling and its order to the police to carry out arrests, alongside the imposition of harsh sanctions, with the goal of severely harming the Olam HaTorah. In this situation, we cannot sit idly by—we will go out and raise the cry of the entire Chareidi sector.”

Meanwhile, the bochur who was arrested in the Gilo neighborhood of Jerusalem has been identified as Yair Vashdi, a 20-year-old talmid of the Shalom Banecha yeshiva in Gilo.

The Am Kadosh organization reported that the arrest occurred after officers banged on his parents’ door in the middle of the night and threatened the family that they would break down the door. The family opened the door, and Yair was arrested.

Am Kadosh emphasized that there is no legal obligation to open the door to the military police, and they are not permitted to forcibly enter without a special warrant.

A top attorney published a troubling legal analysis on Monday, stating that the High Court has turned Chareidim into “draft dodgers” via a legal fabrication.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)