Two haredi yeshiva students who each illegally dodged military service
for 8 years were sentenced to prison last week. But the sentences each were given were very light – one so much so that the military prosecutor warned the court that sentences like this would not serve as a deterrent.
2 Haredi Draft Dodgers Incarcerated
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
Two haredi yeshiva students who each illegally dodged military service for 8 years were sentenced to prison last week, Ynet reported.
But the sentences each were given were very light.
One took a plea bargain and was sentenced to two months in prison.
The other fought the charges against him, lost, and was sentenced to three months in prison, causing the military prosecutor to warn the court that sentences this light will not act as a deterrent.
"This [three-month prison sentence] is a punishment that is too lenient with the defendant and unreasonably reduces the penalties usually given under similar circumstances. This is the longest period of draft-dodging. A period during which the state has faced complex security challenges. The defendant failed to enlist even though he was well aware of his obligation to do so, or at least to settle his status," the military prosecutor told the court.
The 27-year-old yeshiva student’s defense attorney argued that his client’s failure to seek an exemption from military service or to enlist was the fault of the student’s rosh yeshiva whom the student had asked for advice and help with this matter.
"He felt that people more authorized than him to handle the matter are taking care of what is needed so he could go on with his studies," his attorney reportedly said.