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As tensions over the draft crisis continue to escalate, with protests, arrests, and even attempts to storm police stations dominating headlines, thousands of bnei yeshiva are grappling with uncertainty over their legal status and rights. Against that backdrop, attorney Shlomo Chadad, a specialist in military and criminal law who has been closely involved in recent arrest cases, is offering guidance to those caught in the growing turmoil.

Chadad, who works with organizations including Chayei Olam, Ezram U’Magenam, and other assistance groups, says confusion on the ground has reached unprecedented levels. With tens of thousands of bnei yeshiva now classified as draft evaders or deserters, fear of arrest has become a daily reality for many.

One of the most pressing questions concerns whether a ben yeshiva can safely enter a police station to file a complaint or testify as a victim of a crime. Just last week, Police Commissioner Dani Levy issued a directive instructing officers not to arrest crime victims who come to police stations, even if they are classified as draft evaders.

According to Chadad, however, events on the ground have not always reflected that policy. He pointed to a recent case in which a ben yeshiva who arrived at a police station to report a serious crime was arrested and transferred directly to military authorities, despite the commissioner’s instructions. The incident sparked widespread outrage in chareidi circles.

“Crime victims should be excluded from all of this,” Chadad said, explaining that he receives calls daily from frightened young men asking whether it is safe to approach the police. Some cases involve witnesses to serious offenses, others involve burglaries or traffic accidents.

He described a recent case involving a ben yeshiva who was injured in a serious automobile accident. Rather than seeking medical treatment, the young man’s first instinct was to flee the scene out of fear that police would arrive and arrest him for draft-related issues.

According to Chadad, such situations reflect a growing breakdown of trust between the police and sections of the chareidi community.

In practice, he said, there have been instances in which individuals were handed over to military authorities, though not in large numbers. Much of that is because many bnei yeshiva have become increasingly cautious about entering police stations at all.

As a result, many have turned to alternative methods, such as filing complaints online or sending representatives to handle matters on their behalf. Chadad believes the primary challenge lies with individual officers in the field.

While most officers are familiar with the current guidelines requiring only temporary detention and release with a summons, he warned that some officers either disagree with the policy or are unfamiliar with it. In such cases, he claims, delays can intentionally extend beyond the permitted period, resulting in transfers to military authorities.

Chadad also issued an urgent warning to young men who may qualify for medical or psychological exemptions but have neglected to pursue them.

He stressed that anyone with a legitimate medical or mental-health condition should address the issue before being formally classified as a draft evader. According to Chadad, military authorities become increasingly skeptical as time passes, making exemptions more difficult to obtain.

He recounted a recent case involving a young man suffering from a severe physical illness who clearly qualified for a Profile 21 exemption. Because he delayed addressing the matter for more than a year, he was ultimately arrested. Although military doctors immediately determined that he was unfit for service, he was nevertheless required to remain in prison for two weeks because of the lengthy period during which he had failed to resolve his status.

According to Chadad, had the issue been addressed just a few months earlier, the young man likely would not have spent a single day behind bars.

Another major concern, he said, is a new policy change instituted by Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara that significantly lowers the threshold for criminal prosecution.

Until recently, only individuals who had evaded military service for more than 540 days were classified as criminal draft evaders subject to prosecution in military court. Under the revised guidelines, that threshold has been reduced to just one year, or 365 days.

Chadad warned that the implications are substantial.

Those whose status extends for less than a year generally face disciplinary proceedings before a military officer and may receive sentences of approximately 20 to 30 days in military prison. Such proceedings typically do not involve in-person legal representation.

However, once an individual crosses the one-year mark, the case can move into the criminal realm. Those defendants may face military court proceedings, lengthy prison sentences, and a criminal record that could follow them long after the case concludes.

Chadad said thousands of people may already fall into this category and predicted that military authorities will soon face a wave of far more complex criminal cases than they have handled in the past.

Asked what a ben yeshiva should do if arrested in the middle of the night and transferred to detention or Military Prison 10, Chadad offered what he described as the most important piece of advice.

According to him, the first words out of a detainee’s mouth should be a request to speak with an attorney.

He stressed the importance of exercising the right to remain silent until receiving legal counsel.

“A professional can, in a short conversation, help organize his thoughts, explain his rights, and clarify what he may and may not say,” Chadad advised.

He cautioned detainees against making statements that could later complicate their cases and emphasized that many prisoners are unaware of their rights regarding religious accommodations, kashrus, appeals procedures, and requests for sentence reductions.

“We are living through ongoing chaos,” Chadad said, urging bnei yeshiva not to make decisions on their own. His advice, he said, is simple: always seek guidance from a qualified professional before taking any action.

An unprecedented delegation of leading gedolei Torah from Eretz Yisroel is set to arrive in the United States next week on behalf of Keren Olam HaTorah, undertaking a seven-city mission aimed at strengthening support for the olam haTorah and rallying Klal Yisroel behind the thousands of lomdei Torah facing mounting challenges in Eretz Yisroel.

Participating in the mission will be Rav Dov Landau, Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, Rav Yaakov Hillel, Rav Don Segal, Rav Shimon Galei, Rav Avrohom Salim, Rav Asher Weiss, Rav Yosef Chevroni, Rav Yisroel Bunim Schreiber, the Rachmastrivka Rebbe, and Rav Chaim Mordechai Ausband.

According to the current schedule, the mission will begin in Baltimore on Sunday, June 7, followed by Lakewood on Monday, June 8. The delegation will then travel to Chicago on Tuesday, June 9, and Brooklyn on Wednesday, June 10. A second gathering is scheduled for Lakewood on Thursday, June 11, followed by Monsey on Friday, June 12. The mission will conclude with events in Florida on Sunday, June 14.

{Matzav.com}

Organizers of President Donald Trump’s Freedom 250 celebration say vandals deliberately damaged event equipment, causing a fuel leak that contaminated underground rainwater collection tanks beneath the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

According to Freedom 250 spokeswoman Rachel Reisner, the incident occurred after someone cut a fuel line connected to a generator powering temporary lighting installed for a May 17 event. The damaged line allowed fuel to escape and enter underground cisterns used to collect rainwater.

“Following the Freedom 250 team’s installation of temporary lighting on the National Mall, our equipment has been repeatedly targeted by vandals. The recent fuel leak was the direct result of that tampering,” she said.

Reisner said organizers responded immediately after discovering the problem and worked with federal authorities and contractors to address the contamination.

“Upon discovering damage to a generator fuel line, Freedom 250 and our vendors mobilized within minutes, coordinated an immediate cleanup response, and fully remediated the site in close partnership with the National Park Service,” Reisner went on.

She added that the organization is treating the incident seriously and is cooperating with investigators.

“We take our responsibility as stewards of the National Mall seriously and are working closely with the appropriate law enforcement authorities regarding these acts of vandalism.”

Initial reports suggested that approximately 30 gallons of fuel may have spilled beneath the National Mall. However, sources later indicated that the actual amount appears to have been significantly smaller.

Officials said the leak did not affect any drinking water supplies.

The lighting equipment had been installed in preparation for “Rededicate 250,” a large gathering featuring prayer services and musical performances, along with appearances by religious and political leaders, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Cleanup efforts remained visible this week. On Monday, a mobile command vehicle operated by an environmental remediation company was stationed on the National Mall near the affected area.

Freedom 250 was created by the Trump administration as a public-private partnership to help coordinate events leading up to the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

The initiative is distinct from America250, a congressionally established nonprofit organization launched a decade ago and overseen by a bipartisan coalition of elected officials and private citizens.

Administration officials said concerns about vandalism have prompted heightened vigilance as preparations continue for upcoming semiquincentennial celebrations.

“Just last week, an individual cut a fuel line to a light tower in an attempt to stop the great work being done to celebrate our nation’s 250th,” a spokesperson for the US Department of the Interior told The NY Post.

Federal officials vowed that such actions would not derail the anniversary events or broader efforts underway in the nation’s capital.

“This is unhinged behavior that will not be tolerated. To be crystal clear: We will not be stopped,” the DOI spokesperson added. “This administration continues to revitalize the city at record speed. Our nation’s capital has never been this safe and beautiful, and it’s all thanks to President Donald J. Trump.”

{Matzav.com}

A prominent conservative healthcare policy organization is raising concerns that millions of Americans may be enrolled in subsidized Obamacare plans without meeting eligibility requirements, a situation it says could cost taxpayers up to $25 billion this year alone.

In a newly released study, the Paragon Health Institute, headed by former Trump economic adviser Brian Blase, estimates that approximately 6.2 million individuals who obtained coverage through Affordable Care Act exchanges in 2025 may not qualify for the subsidies they received.

According to the report, those potentially ineligible enrollees account for roughly 25 percent of all people currently covered through ACA marketplace plans.

The findings arrive as the Trump administration continues its campaign to identify waste, fraud, and abuse in federal programs. The report is likely to intensify scrutiny of Obamacare, a law President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized.

Drawing on federal enrollment figures and Census Bureau data, Paragon argues that the number of Americans receiving subsidized marketplace coverage substantially exceeds the number who appear eligible based on income information.

“Obamacare enrollment over the last few years has been inflated by improper and phantom enrollees, and those enrollees are expensive to the taxpayer,” Blase told The Washington Post.

Blase said the issue appears especially pronounced in certain states, including Florida and Texas.

“The problem is more severe in states that did not expand Medicaid, because in those states there’s incentives to overestimate income and claim a subsidy,” Blase said.

Federal health officials have previously acknowledged concerns about enrollment accuracy within the ACA system.

A spokesman for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services told The Washington Post that agency estimates indicated as many as 4.4 million enrollments during 2024 may have been improper.

The Government Accountability Office has also highlighted vulnerabilities in the program. In a report released in December, investigators said they were able to exploit weaknesses in the system.

“For example, we were able to get subsidized insurance for fake enrollees.”

Even experts who question some of Paragon’s conclusions have acknowledged that abuse of the enrollment process exists.

“There is clear evidence that, in 2024, rogue brokers improperly enrolled or switched the enrollment of a few hundred thousand people without their permission,” Jason Levitis of the Urban Institute testified before the Senate Finance Committee.

The Trump administration has already begun implementing measures intended to tighten eligibility standards and improve oversight of ACA enrollment.

During an April interview with Blase, CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz commended Paragon’s work investigating potential fraud and abuse within the healthcare program.

“I like using a scalpel, but there are some times you have to use a meat cleaver because the whole system is in such shock that you need to be able to fix it,” Oz said at the time.

Blase credited the administration with taking meaningful steps to address weaknesses in the system and remove questionable enrollments.

“The Trump administration has come in and is trying to clean up some of the obvious stuff,” Blase said.

As part of a broader effort to protect taxpayer funds, the White House’s fraud task force is also expected to review enrollment practices within the Affordable Care Act marketplace and examine whether additional safeguards are needed.

{Matzav.com}