Ultra-Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem staged a violent demonstration against the mandate to enlist in the Israeli military
Tens of thousands of men rallied in an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood to protest the order Israeli police said protesters threw rocks and attacked the car of an ultra-Orthodox Cabinet minister, pelting it with stones
During a demonstration against a Supreme Court order requiring them to start enlisting for military service, thousands of Jewish ultra-Orthodox men engaged in combat with Israeli police on Sunday in central Jerusalem.
As Israel fights in Gaza, the historic decision made last week for the government to start recruiting ultra-Orthodox men may cause Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition to fall.
To oppose the edict, tens of thousands of men gathered in an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood. However, the mob grew violent as it approached central Jerusalem after dusk.
According to Israeli police, demonstrators stormed an ultra-Orthodox Cabinet minister’s car and threw rocks at it. Police on horses and water cannons filled with skunk-scented water dispersed the crowd. But by late Sunday, the protest was still out of control.
In Israel, the majority of Jewish men and women are required to serve in the military. However, influential ultra-Orthodox political parties have succeeded in obtaining exemptions that allow their adherents to forego military duty and pursue studies at religious seminaries.
During the eight-month conflict against Hamas, the public’s hatred of the long-standing arrangement has intensified during the course of the eight-month conflict against Hamas. Over 600 soldiers have lost their lives in combat, and the call-up of tens of thousands of reservists has upended lives, businesses, and professions.
The army draft, according to ultra-Orthodox parties and their adherents, will destroy their generations-old way of life. Thousands of men gathered in a square earlier on Sunday to participate in collective prayers. Many individuals held signs criticizing the government, with one declaring, “We should not draft even one male.”
The ultra-Orthodox parties, important allies of Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, have the power to call for fresh elections if they choose to withdraw from the government in protest.
Party leaders have not declared their intention to quit the administration. It may be dangerous to do so, given that support for Netanyahu’s coalition has declined since the Hamas strike on October 7, which started the conflict.