Rabbi Elishama Cohen, head of the Homesh yeshiva in the former Homesh settlement, was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of violating the Disengagement Law.
ראש ישיבת חומש, הרב אלישמע כהן, עוכב במהלך בדיקה במחסום חיזמא - וזומן לחקירה בחשד להפרת חוק ההתנתקות
— Carmel Dangor כרמל דנגור (@carmeldangor) December 22, 2021
In response, the Religious Zionist Party slammed the government as a "dangerous government making political arrests."
"The Homesh yeshiva has been operating for nearly 15 years. The rosh yeshiva has been there every day but was never arrested," they said in a statement. They further labeled the decision as a reward to terrorism, following the death of yeshiva student Yehuda Dimentman in a terrorist shooting attack in the area.
"They will not scare us," the party declared. "We call on the masses of the house of Israel to arrive tomorrow and march with Yehuda's family, demanding an arrangement be made with the Homesh yeshiva."
On Monday, Cohen told reporters that the IDF plans to evacuate the yeshiva once the shiva (week-long mourning period) for Dimentman ends.
The yeshiva, was created in 2002 when the settlement still exists and was illegally rebuilt there in modular structures after the settlement was destroyed.
The IDF has evacuated it multiple times over the years, but Cohen and the Dimentman family fear that this time the IDF will prevent them from rebuilding once it has been razed.
The family and Cohen have asked Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and the government to authorize the yeshiva in Yehuda's name.
This is a developing story.