In discussions involving the IDF, the police, and legal counsel on enforcing mandatory conscription, it emerged that 188 deserters were arrested at Ben Gurion Airport - of which 64 were ultra-Orthodox deserters who managed to pass through border control without being checked - and were only caught upon their return to Israel.
According to a report this evening (Tuesday) by Roy Yanovsky on 'Kan News', the arrested deserters were transferred to police custody on suspicion of violating the Entry into Israel Law - an offense punishable by up to a year in prison.
According to the report, some have already been questioned by the Ben Gurion Airport Police, and others will be questioned later.
The investigation revealed that the main method for leaving the country when you have a detention order is to cling to another passenger at border control. Some of them were also identified on Ben Gurion Airport security cameras doing this.
News reporter Daniel Grubeis published an investigation into evidence of a variety of methods for "skipping" border controls, and the main problem exposed here is that people with a stay-at-home order, whether for criminal circumstances, execution, or any other reason, can leave the country relatively easily.
Following these events, the Population and Immigration Authority took a series of actions, including adding border guards.
