Military police forces raided the home of a Gerrer chassid overnight Sunday in order to arrest him for draft evasion, but the avreich refused to open the door.

Meanwhile, an alert was issued on the local Tzeva Shachor alert hotline, and within minutes, dozens of protesters gathered at the scene and launched a loud protest against the arrest. According to some reports, the protesters danced outside the avreich’s home and in nearby areas to impede the entry of the police.

As protesters continued to flock to the scene, the commander of the force decided to withdraw from the area without making the arrest out of fear of a violent physical confrontation.

The incident comes amid a surge of similar incidents in recent days, during which many arrest attempts targeting bnei yeshivos have failed despite intensified enforcement efforts by the IDF and military police.

At the end of last week, it was reported that at least 17 bnei yeshivos are being held in military prison after being designated as draft dodgers.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)