Ultra-Orthodox Jews draw Israeli ire with army protest

By Kaamil Ahmed

JERUSALEM (AA) – When hundreds of Ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked some of Jerusalem's busiest roads on Monday afternoon, portions of the crowds that formed around them were there not to support the protest but to make their complaints known.

Israelis from the trams that had been brought to a halt and the lines of cars backing up got out to voice their disdain at the protesters and some cheered when half a dozen police forced them off the road to clear a temporary path for the cars.

The now regular protests in different parts of Jerusalem appear to be increasing as a section of the Ultra-Orthodox community protest call-ups to the military, especially after the Israeli High Court struck down the community's exemption from national service this year.

Many Israelis already disliked the Ultra-Orthodox because of their refusal to serve in the army, which is compulsory for all other Jewish Israelis, and their preference for a life of religious study rather than work, but have also become irritated by protests that appear aimed at disrupting Jerusalem's daily life.

The police, who arrested 11 protesters on Monday and 120 at another protest last week, describe them as "extremists" and all the demonstrations illegal.

Many of the protesters, however, told Anadolu Agency, though they would not be named, that other Israelis should not be frustrated with them, as they were simply demanding their own freedoms.

They accused the police, who mostly removed protesters by hand but have occasionally also used water cannon, of using excessive force on them and then claiming it was the protestors who were attacking bystanders.

"We and our songs are ready to be killed and not to be drafted in the IDF (army), which is against our Holy Torah," read one of the signs held up by the protesters.

The exemptions were based on Ultra-Orthodox individuals being in full-time religious education and they still had to get permission from the army allowing them to defer their military service but some of the protesters said they opposed any kind of involvement in the army's call-up process.

The protests have not been supported by the entire Ultra-Orthodox community, however, including the more mainstream political parties which are part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government.

Meni Schwartz, the editor of Ultra-Orthodox newspaper Behadrey Haredim, wrote in the Netanyahu-aligned Israel Hayom last week that the protesters were causing "indescribable damage" to the wider community's reputation.

"Unfortunately, there is no solution in sight. The issue of IDF [military] enlistment is a sensitive one for all sides involved. And no leader so far has come up with a solution. The [Ultra-Orthodox] haredi extremists can remain entrenched in their positions and continue to challenge the entire Orthodox public, whose image they have much maligned," he wrote.

Ultra-Orthdox Jews are estimated to make up around 10 percent of Israel's population.