Shas MK Moshe Abutbul visited Prison 10 on Thursday and met about 10 detainees described as Torah students, including one yeshiva student from Netivot. He told them that the entire Shas movement stands behind them and is working to stop the arrests, as the recent wave of detentions continues.
Abutbul came with attorney Shlomo Haddad from the legal department of the Hayei Olam organization, which assists yeshiva students. Among the detainees they met was Aviel Cohen from Netivot, who was arrested while traveling on the road in front of his wife.
According to the report, Abutbul and Haddad encouraged the detainees and checked their spiritual needs while inside the prison. The visit came after growing protest activity around arrests of draft evaders, including a gathering of thousands of Gur Hasidim outside Prison 10 the previous day.
At the end of the visit, Abutbul said, “We came to strengthen and support Torah learners. Each one has his own painful story, and we heard from them about the difficulties and the desire to return to the study hall.” He added that they had been asked to help with several important matters and had discussed them with the prison commander. The detainees, the article said, expressed hope because of efforts by Shas chairman Aryeh Deri on the issue.
