On Wednesday, hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked roads on the outskirts of the city of Jerusalem, once again protesting compulsory military service, which until a year ago had exempted young people from the haredi community.
During the march, demonstrators said they would rather “dead” than join the Israeli army and distributed pamphlets accusing Shas party leader Aryeh Deri of accepting and “selling out” members of the community.
Security forces threatened to use water cannon to disperse the protests, according to information gathered by The Times of Israel.
The yeshiva students were called after the Supreme Court deemed the immunity they received unfair and discriminatory against other Israelis, especially in “time of war.” Virtually since the offensive against Gaza began, ultra-Orthodox Jews have continued to refuse to serve in the military.
They therefore took to the streets many times to protest this measure and refused to go to recruitment centers despite military orders.
During these protests, they repeatedly appropriated the slogans and symbols of the movement supporting the release of hostages abducted by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) during the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
At the end of July, Israeli authorities issued conscription orders for 54,000 members of the Haredi ultra-Orthodox community, despite tensions and protests over compulsory military service for Jews who dedicate themselves to the study of Judaism’s holy book, the Torah, and conscientiously object to these calls for religious reasons.
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