Shas chairman Aryeh Deri visited a group of yeshiva bochurim being held in Prison 10 on Sunday, offering encouragement and expressing solidarity with those detained amid the ongoing dispute over the status of full-time Torah learners. During the visit, Deri strongly criticized what he described as the criminalization of Torah study and pledged continued political efforts on behalf of the detainees.

Speaking during the visit, Deri said, “From here we cry out: Stop treating Torah learners like criminals! Yeshiva bochurim are the pride of the Jewish people and the guardians of our nation’s spiritual heritage. Shas will continue to defend the status of Torah learners with all its strength, and this week we will work to advance the Basic Law: Torah Study, which will enshrine the supreme value of Torah in the State of Israel.”

The visit, which had been scheduled in advance, took place Sunday morning at Prison 10. Accompanying Deri were MK Michael Malchieli and Shas Director-General MK Chaim Biton. The delegation was escorted by prison commander Lt. Col. Shay Ben Baruch, the prison rabbi, and members of the facility’s professional staff.

During the tour, Deri met with approximately ten chareidi detainees, listened to their concerns, and heard firsthand accounts of their experiences behind bars. He distributed copies of Emunah Ubitachon bearing a personal inscription from Rav Dovid Abuchatzeira and promised to send additional religious study materials that the prisoners said they were lacking.

Deri sought to bolster their spirits and assured them that the entire Shas movement stands firmly behind them. He emphasized that the party is actively working to secure their release and resolve their legal status as quickly as possible.

Outside the prison, Deri met with Rabbi Meir Levy, the father of detainee Yosef Levy. For several days, Rabbi Levy has reportedly been learning Torah continuously outside the prison as a protest and a show of solidarity with his son and the other incarcerated yeshiva bochurim.

Deri embraced Rabbi Levy and offered words of support for his efforts. He also met with attorney Itai Cohen, a law partner of attorney Shlomo Chadad, to discuss the legal proceedings currently taking place in military court concerning Yosef Levy’s case and to review possible legal strategies moving forward.

United Torah Judaism chairman MK Rabbi Yitzchok Goldknopf also visited Prison 10 and later issued a statement describing his impressions from the visit.

“I toured Prison 10 again today together with my chief of staff, Moti Babchik, in order to visit the yeshiva bochurim being held there. Meeting the detainees, including those who have been classified as deserters or draft evaders, is deeply troubling. We did not return to the Land of Israel after two thousand years of exile so that our brothers and sons would be arrested because they are studying Torah. This reality must change.”

{Matzav.com}