In a strongly worded open letter, Rabbi Pini Dunner urges Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt the arrests and imprisonment of yeshiva students, warning that the current enforcement tactics are morally wrong and strategically counterproductive.

Rabbi Dunner, who has long advocated for greater Charedi participation in the IDF, emphasizes that the ultra-Orthodox community must become part of Israel’s national defense effort. However, he argues that dragging young men from their homes and criminalizing them is not the solution.

“These young men are the products of a system that leaves them with almost no legitimate alternative,” he writes. “Criminalizing them will only deepen the crisis, inflame tensions, and make a real solution more elusive.”

Instead of targeting the students, Rabbi Dunner calls on the Prime Minister to confront the root causes of the unsustainable status quo and find a wiser path forward — one that respects both Israel’s security needs and Jewish historical sensitivities.

The full letter is published below.