Israeli Deputy Minister Yisroel Eichler launched a sharp attack Monday night against Israeli police and the judicial system over attempts to arrest yeshiva bochurim, accusing authorities of targeting Torah students whose “only crime,” he said, is learning Torah.

In a strongly worded statement, Eichler condemned what he described as efforts “to hunt down and arrest innocent yeshiva students in the streets.”

According to Eichler, “their only sin is Torah study.” He argued that the judicial system has become a “dictatorial regime of those who persecute Torah and those who learn it,” and charged that the police have been “dragged into carrying out humiliating arrests against Torah learners who committed no crime.”

Eichler also sharply criticized police conduct surrounding enforcement of military draft regulations, saying that “the police, which failed to eliminate crime, must take into account the historic consequences of a war between armed police officers and students.”

He further warned that “history will record a mark of shame upon those who persecute innocent Jews devoted to Torah.”

The deputy minister said the proper role of law enforcement is “to preserve public order and protect Jews whose entire desire is to uphold the Torah of Israel,” warning that what he called the ongoing persecution “could lead to innocent blood being spilled.”

Concluding his remarks, Eichler urged Israeli police officers “not to listen to the jurists,” claiming that they “are attempting to undermine the foundations of Jewish existence in Eretz Yisroel.”

{Matzav.com}