Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked a road on the outskirts of Jerusalem on Wednesday to once again protest compulsory military service, a conscription from which young men from the ultra-Orthodox sect were exempt until last year.
During the march, demonstrators stated that they would rather “die” than join the Israeli armed forces and distributed leaflets accusing the leader of the Shas party, Aryeh Deri, of “selling out” members of this community by accepting their conscription.
Security forces threatened to use water cannons to disperse the protest, according to information collected by The Times of Israel.
The yeshiva students were summoned after the Supreme Court deemed that the exemption they received was unfair and discriminatory toward other Israelis, especially in “times of war.” Practically from the beginning of the attack on Gaza, ultra-Orthodox Jews have refused to join the army.
Therefore, they took to the streets on multiple occasions to protest this measure and refused to go to recruitment centers despite the orders of the armed forces.
During these protests, they on numerous occasions appropriated the movement’s slogans and symbols in favor of the release of hostages kidnapped by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) during the attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023.
At the end of July, Israeli authorities issued 54,000 recruitment orders to members of the ultra-Orthodox sect, despite tensions and protests against the compulsory nature of military service for these Jews, who devote themselves to studying the Torah, the holy book of Judaism, and practice conscientious objection to these call-ups for religious reasons.
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