Haredim block Jerusalem roads over military service law

Ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked roads in Jerusalem. Photo: Anadolu Ajansı

Ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked key roads in Jerusalem in protest against compulsory military service, Anadolu Ajansı reports.

The demonstrators opposed mandatory enlistment, arguing that it threatens their religious way of life. The protest descended into unrest after participants repeatedly ignored police orders to clear the roadway.

During a closed-door meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened imprisonment for anyone who does not study the Torah and refuses military service. He acknowledged that previous attempts to suspend the arrests of draft evaders through legislation had failed to increase enlistment, and said that after the elections, the authorities would pass a new law to address the military’s personnel shortage.

Tensions over the conscription of religious Jews escalated following a Supreme Court ruling in June 2024. The court ruled that the ultra-Orthodox were subject to mandatory enlistment on the same basis as other citizens and ordered the government to stop funding religious schools whose students refuse to serve.

The ultra-Orthodox community makes up around 13% of Israel’s population and insists that Torah study must take absolute priority, arguing that military conscription threatens its traditional religious way of life. Just days before the latest incident, Jerusalem police detained 63 people for taking part in similar protests.

As the UOJ previously reported, thousands of Haredim surrounded a military prison in Israel over the detention of a draft evader.

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