Bnei Brak-style welcome in Beitar Illit marks release of ultra-Orthodox draft evaders

On Sunday evening in Beitar Illit, a parade was held for ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students released from military prison after being arrested for failing to report for service. The event, which took place as thousands were accompanying IDF dead who fell in Lebanon to burial, featured a sound truck, a band, residents and children.

An announcement beforehand described it as a “welcome ceremony for prisoners of the Torah world” and said it was meant to honor city residents who had “sanctified God’s name” by serving time in military prison for studying Torah and acting as “our emissaries” in the struggle to preserve the Torah world. Children were asked to come in Shabbat clothes, join the procession, wave flags prepared for the occasion, and receive sweets.

Video from the scene showed the released young men being carried on people’s shoulders while the crowd, including many children, clapped. The parade ended with rabbinic blessings. The report says the turnout showed the gathering was not limited to a small group of “extremist” Haredim, but included large numbers from across the ultra-Orthodox public.

Similar receptions were held in recent days outside Prison 10, near Kfar Yona. On Friday, Aviel Cohen from Netivot was welcomed by cheering youths, and later Nachman Toldano, a Jerusalem Breslov yeshiva student, was filmed dancing with friends before heading to the home of community leader Rabbi Eliezer Berland. Amid a rise in arrests of ultra-Orthodox youths for nonattendance, Prison 10 and nearby Kfar Yona have become a protest hub. Over the weekend, prayer and selichot were held there with Rabbi Yehuda Cohen of Shas’s Council of Torah Sages, whose student had been detained; when it became clear he would be released, the crowd danced, joined by Shas lawmakers. The night before, a separate rally was held there by Gur Hasidim. During the protests, some youths blocked roads and clashed with police, shouting insults such as “scoundrels,” “die today,” and “instead of doing this, release the hostages.”