Hundreds of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Israelis held a mass prayer rally in Jerusalem on Thursday protesting the arrests of yeshiva religious seminary student draft dodgers who refused to serve in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
The rally, labelled “Cry of the Torah”, represented a rare show of unity among the various ultra-Orthodox or Haredi factions. Some of the protesters carried signs comparing Israel’s government to the Soviet regime under Stalin and denouncing quotas for Haredi enlistment. One poster labelled secular Israelis as “parasites,” imploring them to “follow the commandments”.
A 15-year-old boy attending the rally died when he fell from a tower block under construction.
Some of the demonstrators attacked a woman reporter, throwing sticks and bottles at her and shouting insults.
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“I came to Jerusalem to cry out,” said Yehuda Yosef, who joined the rally. “Thousands of yeshiva students are at risk. We must stay in our yeshivas and stand firm. The world exists because of Torah, and we’ll follow our rabbis no matter what the Knesset decides.”
The rally paralysed the city for most of the day, with road and rail routes closed.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid condemned the protest. “I want to say to all these young people, who went to this disgraceful ‘we’ll die rather than enlist’ demonstration and are marching in the streets – if you’re able to travel to a protest, you’re able to travel to an IDF induction centre; if you’re able to march in the street, you’re able to march in basic training and defend the state of Israel,” he said. “What has been, won’t be any longer – everyone will enlist, everyone will work, everyone will go to the induction centre, everyone will defend the state.”
The vast majority of ultra-Orthodox men aged between 18 and 24, of which there are currently about 80,000, have not been drafted. The army says there is an urgent need for an additional 12,000 soldiers to enlist, due to burnout and casualties sustained in the two-year Gaza campaign, Israel’s longest war. The army has even created some designated Haredi combat units, where the soldiers do not come into contact with women soldiers, in an effort to encourage enlistment, but with limited success.
Various Bills have been presented in the Knesset parliament over the years and the high court has ruled that discrimination in favour of the ultra-Orthodox must end. However, the ultra-Orthodox parties are almost always part of the governing coalition and so far have prevented all parliamentary initiatives to change the status quo.
Ultra-Orthodox draft-dodging is an issue that outrages many segments of Israeli society, particularly over the past two years, when the burden on IDF reservists has been stretched to the limit, with many serving hundreds of days at the front. The anger crosses political lines and includes many supporters of prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and the two far-right parties in the coalition.
Comments by some ultra-Orthodox in recent weeks, comparing their plight to that of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, only made things worse.
The opposition parties sense that the issue could be a vote-winner and are competing amongst themselves as to who can take the most hardline position. This week Mr Lapid suggested that people who don’t enlist shouldn’t be allowed to vote. Such a populist proposal is likely to be struck down by the courts but resonates among much of the public. Some 85 per cent of the Israeli public support imposing severe economic sanctions and withdrawing benefits from those who refuse the draft, and the figure rises to 98 per cent among secular Israelis.
