Maj. (res.) Ben Sabo, an officer in the Chashmonaim Brigade, told Arutz Sheva that he was invited to testify during the High Court hearing on the Arrest Law but was not allowed to present the data he had brought from the field that showed that the arrests are counterproductive to Chareidi enlistment.

“I encountered the fortified wall of ‘democracy’ protecting itself from the people,” he said. “The defense invited me to present authentic testimony from the field before the High Court—without theories or manipulation—as someone who has served as a training commander in the Chasmonean Brigade for the past year and a half. I am the brigade’s head of training and have been with it since its establishment. This is what I do. I’m not speaking from the outside,” he emphasized.

Sabo, expecting a professional discussion on the delicate issue, was shocked by what he encountered in the courtroom: “They’re sitting there as a full panel of justices while all of the petitioners are from the left. Ninety percent of the time, the petitioners were speaking. They wasted time and joked around with the left-wing petitioners. [Leftist lawyer] Eliad Shraga told jokes and the justices burst into laughter. The audience was stunned. It looked like a working meeting of the radical left…”

When it was finally Sabo’s turn to speak, Justice Noam Sohlberg announced: “The head of training for the Chasmonean Brigade has indeed arrived. We appreciate you, but you won’t have time to speak—not even for a minute. We’ll inform you of our ruling later today.”

“They didn’t silence me—they silenced Am Yisrael,” Sabo emphasized. “They’re trampling the sovereignty of Am Yisrael in a heavy-handed and authoritarian manner and refuse to listen. But today there is alternative media, and what they try to suppress will come out.”

Describing the information he had hoped to present, Sabo said: “The Chashmonaim brigade got off to a tremendous start, with great momentum and a very high level of professionalism. It was established with the backing of Chareidi Rabbanim from across the spectrum, who were in contact with us. They encouraged us and wanted the initiative to succeed because they understand that there are serious Chareidi young men for whom three daily study sessions are not their way of life, and who want to fulfill other meaningful mitzvos while remaining spiritually strong. These are not troubled youths. At the same time, they want to take part in this great mitzvah. A great deal changed after October 7, and the Chareidi public wants to participate—but in a way that is clean, pure, and consistent with halacha as they know it, and that must be respected.”

“There was strong enlistment at the beginning, but then there were those who wanted to cause unrest through arrests and persecution despite the fact that it’s obvious that arrests won’t lead to enlistment. There are organizations whose sole goal is to stop Chareidi enlistment, or organizations seeking to drive a wedge between the religious and Chareidi communities, and to achieve that, they inflame hatred in order to create tensions within Israeli society.”

Sabo said he wanted to present data showing that “every time tensions are escalated, we experience dozens of cancellations in the week before enlistment. It’s not even certain a company will be opened based on the results of the latest cycle. We also launched a professional officer training course—the first class was full but the second still hasn’t opened because there are no soldiers willing to volunteer. Soldiers tell us they feel tension and hostility when they return home because they’re labeled as hostile to Chareidi society. It has become much harder for them to continue serving in the brigade.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)