Gur Hasidic Yeshiva Student Arrested at Israeli Military Draft Office While Seeking Exemption

Moshe Reuven Verdiger, a yeshiva student from the Gur Hasidic community, was arrested and sent to the military prison known as Prison 10 after arriving at the Tel Hashomer draft office to submit paperwork for a military exemption. He was sentenced to 20 days in military jail. Verdiger had come to the draft office a week before his draft date expired and was initially told he qualified for an exemption. However, after the draft date passed, he was instructed to return with additional documents. When he insisted, "Arrest me," officials initially reassured him he would not be detained and only needed to provide the paperwork to receive the exemption. Verdiger, recently married, is the grandson of Rabbi Avraham Baruch Verdiger and Rabbi Shraga Kapler. It remains to be seen if the Gur community will organize protests in response to his arrest.