IDF Chief Slams Draft-Arrest Freeze for Yeshiva Bochurim as 'Fundamentally Flawed'

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has criticized government legislation designed to prevent the arrest of yeshiva students classified as draft evaders, describing the measure as "fundamentally flawed" Despite a High Court temporary freeze on its implementation.

According to a Channel 12 News report Wednesday evening, Zamir raised objections during an IDF General Staff meeting, stating the military had repeatedly warned political leadership of its opposition to the legislation but was not heeded. He remarked that "no one listened."

Zamir also noted the High Court's suspension of the law and expressed skepticism about its chances of surviving judicial review.

The chief of staff instructed senior IDF commanders to monitor legal developments concerning the legislation. Officials present understood this directive as an order to maintain enforcement cooperation between Israel Police and Military Police regarding draft evasion and arrests.

Before the legislation's approval, Zamir had communicated the military's position in a letter to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yisroel Katz, and the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman, emphasizing that the IDF would not endorse broad military service exemptions.