HaRav Azriel Auerbach has called for mass demonstrations Thursday in Yerushalayim and the Gush Dan area following a renewed series of arrests of yeshiva bochurim and kollel yungeleit over their military status.

The demonstrations are scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m. Thursday, with large gatherings expected in both Yerushalayim and central Israel.

The Committee for the Preservation of the Torah World announced the demonstrations following HaRav Auerbach’s directive, saying they are intended to protest the arrests and what the committee described as a degradation of the honor of Torah and those who learn it.

The announcement follows several arrests in recent days. A Chareidi man was arrested by military police in Be’er Sheva, while a talmid of Yeshivas Chevron was detained in Eilat and transferred to military police custody.

Earlier in the week, an attempted arrest in Modi’in prompted a major response after large numbers of protesters converged on the area. The attempted arrest was ultimately unsuccessful.

HaRav Auerbach also sharply criticized what he described as the abandonment of yeshiva bochurim by elements of the Chareidi establishment who had previously pledged to stand alongside them in such circumstances.

He said the demonstrations would also protest the situation in which yeshiva bochurim and kollel yungeleit are being sent to military prison without, in his view, an adequate public response.

Significant traffic disruptions are expected Thursday afternoon in Yerushalayim and Gush Dan as the demonstrations get underway.