Ultra-Orthodox Leaders Back Initiative to Pay Recruits Jailed for Draft Evasion

A new initiative called "Prison 1000" has emerged within the ultra-Orthodox community, offering financial support to draft evaders. The project, which has received backing from prominent Lithuanian-Haredi leaders Rabbi Dov Landau and Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch, aims to pay 1,000 shekels for every day a draft-dodging Haredi youth spends in military prison. The initiative was launched recently in response to an increase in arrests of Haredi draft evaders.

The program functions as a form of "insurance" for draft evaders. Participants contribute small, regular sums to a shared fund. If a draft evader is arrested, the fund will disburse 1,000 shekels for each day of their detention. The organizers hope this financial incentive will alleviate the fear of arrest among young Haredi men, providing them with a monetary consolation.

Initially a grassroots effort by rabbis and activists, "Prison 1000" has gained significant public support following meetings with senior Lithuanian-Haredi leadership and Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, the spiritual leader of the Shas party. This expanded endorsement signifies a broader backing for the initiative, which opposes state efforts to conscript members of the Haredi community into the military.

Recent related incidents include a Haredi commander leaving the IDF following instructions from a senior Shas rabbi, and a detained Haredi draft evader, who was reportedly driving a stolen vehicle, being handed over to military police.