Ultra-Orthodox Jews clash with Israeli police amid protests over military conscription

By Zein Khalil

JERUSALEM (AA) - Clashes erupted Tuesday evening between Israeli police and ultra-Orthodox Jews, who blocked a highway in central Israel to protest their mandatory military draft.

Dozens of ultra-Orthodox Jews, or Haredi, blocked Highway 4 at the Coca-Cola Junction near Bnei Brak town to protest their conscription, Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported.

Bnei Brak is a city on the Mediterranean coast within the Tel Aviv area, predominantly populated by ultra-Orthodox Jews.

“A handful of protesters blocked the road, confronted the police, sat on the road, risked their lives and attacked the police,” the newspaper said.

Israeli public broadcaster KAN released a video showing protesters blocking the road and some sitting under water cannons used by police to disperse them.

Israeli media reported early Tuesday that the army planned to start drafting Haredi men as of Sunday.

On Monday evening, Haredi youths attacked a car with two Israeli army officers in Bnei Brak, throwing bottles and shouting “murderers.”

For months, the army has faced a personnel shortage amid its ongoing war in Gaza since Oct.7, military raids in the West Bank and cross-border clashes with Lebanese group Hezbollah.

Last month, Israel's Supreme Court mandated the drafting of Haredi Jews into the army and banned financial aid to religious institutions whose students refuse military service.

Haredi Jews make up about 13% of Israel's population of approximately 9.9 million and do not serve in the military, dedicating their lives to studying the Torah.

Israeli law requires all Israelis over 18 to serve in the military, and the exemption of Haredi has been a contentious issue for decades.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas.

More than 38,700 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 89,000 injured, according to local health authorities.

Over nine months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio