Khaberni - Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews closed roads in central, northern, and southern Israel on Wednesday evening, protesting against the arrest of draft dodgers from their community, and rejecting military service.
The Haredim continue their protests against military service following the Supreme Court's (highest judicial body) decision on June 25, 2024, to mandate their conscription and prohibit financial aid to religious institutions whose students refuse military service.
The Haredim constitute about 13% of Israel's population, which numbers 10 million, and they refuse military service on the grounds of dedicating their lives to studying the Torah, claiming that integration into secular society poses a threat to their religious identity and the continuity of their community.
The voice of senior rabbis, whose statements are considered religious decrees for the Haredim, calls for rejecting conscription, even tearing up draft orders.
The Channel 10 Hebrew (private) reports that thousands of Haredim are demonstrating this Wednesday evening at several locations across Israel, after the military police arrested three students from religious schools last night.
The demonstrators took to the streets of Bnei Brak and Jerusalem (central) and Safed (north), blocking main roads, demanding the release of the young men and the cancellation of draft orders for religious school students, according to the same source.
Clashes
The demonstrations are focused on Highway no. 4 near the city of Bnei Brak, on Jabotinsky Street in the city, in Beit Shemesh (central) in Safed, and in Kikar Hashabbat (Sabbath Square) in Jerusalem.
The channel reports that the protests have escalated on Barlev Street in Jerusalem, which involved blocking roads for vehicles and the light rail path, and throwing stones at passing vehicles.
It added that large forces from the Israeli police are working to disperse the demonstrators, noting that clashes between the demonstrators and the police have been reported at some sites.
Meanwhile, the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reports that demonstrators on Jabotinsky Street in Bnei Brak chanted during the demonstration "The army is worse than death, we'd rather go to jail than to the army".
The newspaper "Israel Hayom" reports that hundreds of Haredim also demonstrated at Military Prison no. 10 at Beit Lid military base, near the city of Kfar Yona (central), protesting against the arrest of draft dodgers by the military police.
For decades, Haredi Jews have been able to avoid conscription at the age of 18, by obtaining repeated deferrals on the grounds of studying in religious institutions, until they reach the age of exemption, which is currently 26 years.
The opposition accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of seeking to pass a law that exempts the Haredim from conscription, in response to the demands of the "Shas" and "Yahadut HaTorah" parties, which withdrew earlier this year from the government but are prepared to return as soon as a law meeting their demands is passed.
