12 held for breaking into military prison, rioting over young Haredi woman’s arrest
Suspects held for forcing way into Neve Tzedek, causing damage to facility; graffiti accuses army of ‘persecution of Jews’
A group of ultra-Orthodox demonstrators broke into a military prison in central Israel late Thursday during a violent protest over the arrest of a young Haredi woman, who police said did not show up for mandatory military service.
Police officers and IDF soldiers arrested 12 suspects for forcing their way into Neve Tzedek prison and causing damage to the facility. A police statement said the suspects smashed doors and also damaged police cruisers.
Images from Neve Zedek showed a broken glass door and graffiti on a wall reading “army = persecution of Jews.”
Hebrew media outlets estimated some 200 demonstrators were present.
Ultra-Orthodox women routinely get exempted from military service, but in several cases have been prosecuted if they fail to even apply for the exemption.
A military source told the Walla news site that the suspects did not manage to enter the detention facility itself after breaking into the base.
The report said the IDF would probe the incident, noting there is supposed to be security at the gate checking those entering.
The rioting at Neve Zedek came days after the government voted to continue exempting ultra-Orthodox Israelis from the draft, days before the current exemption framework expires.
In 2017, the High Court of Justice invalidated the current conscription law, which gives sweeping exemptions to full-time religious scholars. It has given the government a series of extended deadlines by which to legislate a new enlistment law, and has allowed the Defense Ministry to rely upon the current, struck-down law until a replacement is passed. The government’s 15th, and current, extension to legislate a solution is due to expire at the end of July. However, the government’s underlying, invalidated law has a provision forcing its expiration — and the government’s timeline — a month sooner, on June 30.
Because the underlying law was struck down, the coalition could not simply renew it, and the government therefore passed its Sunday decision as a stop-gap measure, to give the military legal cover to refrain from drafting ultra-Orthodox youth until a permanent solution can be legislated.
A remnant from agreements made in the early days of the state, the ultra-Orthodox community has long skirted mandatory military conscription by enrolling in full-time religious study until past the enlistment age threshold. The issue came to a head a decade ago, alongside a broader discussion about sharing the country’s economic and service burden, much of which falls on the mainstream middle class.
In addition to the law struck down by the High Court in 2017, a previous version of the enlistment exemption law was knocked down in 2012.
