Reuven Lamnatzeach, a talmid of Yeshivas Kibbutz Givat Ze’ev, was detained late last week while traveling to yeshiva on Route 1. After being stopped by police, he was transferred to military authorities and held in military prison until his release on Sunday.

Immediately after leaving custody, Lamnatzeach traveled to Bnei Brak together with his rosh yeshiva, Rav Dovid Boaron, to seek the blessings of senior Torah leaders.

Their first stop was the home of Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, where the rosh yeshiva listened carefully as Lamnatzeach described the details of his arrest.

During a conversation that was recorded and later circulated widely, Rav Hirsch sought to understand exactly how the incident unfolded.

“Where did they catch you?” the rosh yeshiva asked.

“On the way to yeshiva,” Lamnatzeach replied.

Rav Boaron added that the arrest occurred on Route 1 and involved an unmarked vehicle.

“On Route 1, an undercover car—you couldn’t tell it was police,” he explained.

Lamnatzeach then described the arrest itself.

“I was in a car with a friend. Suddenly they stopped us and then they took me away in handcuffs.”

Rav Hirsch immediately asked what had happened to the other passenger.

“And what about your friend?”

“No, they released my friend,” the bochur responded.

The exchange then took an unexpected turn.

“Is your friend Ashkenazi?” Rav Hirsch asked.

The bochur answered: “No, he looks Ashkenazi, and because of that they released him.”

Rav Boaron responded with a sigh, saying, “Unfortunately, that’s what is happening. When will this end?”

Rav Hirsch continued asking about the arrest and sought additional details regarding the officer involved.

“The police officer who arrested you, was he Sephardi or Ashkenazi?”

“I think Sephardi,” the bochur replied.

Rav Boaron again asked emotionally, “Until when, Rosh Yeshiva? When will this end?”

Rav Hirsch’s answer was brief but striking.

“It has not even begun yet.”

The conversation took place amid a series of recent arrests involving yeshiva students. Last week, two talmidim from Yeshivas Maalos HaTorah were detained on Route 6, including Michoel Petrov, the son of the yeshiva’s rosh yeshiva, Rav Yosef Petrov.

In a separate incident, two additional yeshiva bochurim from Yeshivas Mishkan Dovid were reportedly transferred to military authorities after being detained by officers from the Shaar Binyamin police station.

After meeting with Rav Hirsch, Lamnatzeach and Rav Boaron continued their visits to other leading Torah figures, including the Belzer Rebbe, to receive additional brachos.

The arrests have prompted increasingly forceful responses from rabbinic leaders. Rav Ezriel Auerbach, leader of the Yerushalmi faction, recently issued a public call urging protests against the arrests.

“It is not a time to remain silent, and every ben Torah has a doubled and redoubled obligation to protest the humiliation of Torah and its learners,” Rav Auerbach wrote.

Large demonstrations organized by the Yerushalmi faction were held Sunday in Yerushalayim, Bnei Brak, and other locations across the country in protest of the recent arrests.

At the same time, reports have emerged that the Military Police are preparing for another large-scale arrest operation in the Gush Dan area in the coming days. According to reports, Israel Police requested that the operation be delayed because of operational demands and ongoing security concerns in northern Israel.

Rav Boaron previously delivered an emotional address in which he described learning of his talmid’s arrest only hours after parting from him at the end of the evening seder.

“I said goodbye to him at the end of third seder around 11:00 at night,” the rosh yeshiva recalled. “The next morning I woke up to a phone call from activists informing me that my student had been arrested.”

“We are living through the darkest of times, like the period of the Romans,” he declared in remarks that generated significant discussion throughout the yeshiva world.