Fringe ultra-Orthodox sect plans fresh anti-army protests in Jerusalem

Fringe ultra-Orthodox groups were planning another mass protest in Jerusalem on Sunday afternoon over the jailing for 40 to 90 days of 11 young seminary students for draft-dodging.

The so-called “Jerusalem Faction” headed by Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach announced on Sunday morning that it would return to the streets to defend the “dignity of the Torah.”

The protest is called for 3:30 p.m. in Jerusalem, in the busy intersection of Jaffa and Sarei Yisrael streets.

The location, adjacent to the city’s Central Bus Station, could bring most bus routes and the light rail to a standstill and create extensive traffic jams in the city center.

The statement from the “Committee to Save the Torah World,” which has been responsible for organizing recent demonstrations against the army draft, said that Auerbach had ordered the demonstration “to protest for the dignity of the Torah, which has been ground into dust by the incarceration of 12 [sic] prisoners of the Torah world for extended periods. Last week, the Haredi masses took to the streets to protest, and hundreds were arrested and four more prisoners of the Torah world were handed over to the military authorities.”

On Saturday night, the statement explained, committee members visited Rabbi Auerbach and heard him reiterate “the requirement to continue protesting and taking to the streets. The draft decree undermines all the central principles of Judaism, and so it is the obligation of every individual in the Haredi public to go out and protest with all their strength against the decree.”

The protest continues those that took place last week, in which some protesters tried to set fire to the Jerusalem draft office, according to a video clip posted online Tuesday.

The footage, posted by the Behadrei Haredim website, was filmed Monday as the protesters prevented entry or exit from the building. The grainy clip showed them trying to set two small fires in what appears to be the guardhouse at the entrance.

The army said that that the protesters had set fire to some signs and anything else they could find near the fence.

“They tried to destroy the fence. There were no injuries. There was, of course, some property damage, but nothing too serious,” an army spokesperson said, adding that “the suspects were taken by the Israel Police for further investigation.”

Last week, at least 32 ultra-Orthodox demonstrators were arrested in the salvo of demonstrations in Jerusalem, Bnei Brak, Beit Shemesh, and Modiin Illit.

The protests were sparked after the Jaffa Military Court on Sunday sentenced 11 ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers to jail sentences ranging from 40 to 90 days. It’s unclear why the committee organizers’ statement referred to 12 such detainees.

At issue is a decades-old debate as to whether young ultra-Orthodox men studying in yeshivas, or seminaries, should be called up for compulsory military service, like the rest of Israel’s Jewish population. After reaching the age of 18, men must serve for 32 months and women for 24.

Earlier this year, the High Court of Justice struck down a law exempting ultra-Orthodox men engaged in religious study from military service, saying it undermined the principle of equality before the law. The decision raises the possibility that they could be forced into service, a highly contentious proposition with dramatic political and social implications. However, the court suspended its decision for a year to allow for a new arrangement to be put in place, giving the government the option to pass a new law.