Haredi anti-draft protesters block roads at IDF induction center for second day

Dozens of ultra-Orthodox anti-draft protesters blocked roads and vehicles outside the IDF’s Tel Hashomer induction center on Monday, as demonstrations against the enlistment of Haredi men continued for a second consecutive day.

The demonstrators gathered near the recruitment office in Kiryat Ono as the military prepared to receive hundreds of ultra-Orthodox recruits for combat and support roles.

Police said protesters blocked Yaakov Dori Street in both directions and urged motorists to avoid the area. Officers and Border Police diverted traffic and worked to disperse the demonstration, Walla reported.

Protesters shouted at Haredi men arriving to enlist and blocked vehicles approaching the induction center. Footage published by Walla showed one demonstrator throwing himself toward the wheels of a truck. There were no reports of injuries.

Several demonstrators held up signs reading “It was better to die as a Jew in the Holocaust than to spiritually die in IDF camps.”

Police said officers repeatedly announced over loudspeakers that the demonstration was illegal, but protesters ignored their instructions, continued blocking the road and clashed with police.

הפגנה מחוץ לבסיס תל השומר: ציר יעקב דורי בקרית אונו נחסם לשני הכיוונים, מלוי אשכול עד שלמה המלך; המשטרה: "מפירי סדר חוסמים כבישים ומתעלמים מהוראות הכריזה. נהגים מתבקשים לנסוע בדרכים חלופיות ולהימנע מהגעה למקום"@aronkalman1
צילום: דוברות המשטרה pic.twitter.com/AnauP8Uopf

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The IDF was preparing to absorb hundreds of Haredi recruits into a range of specially designated units and programs, including the Hasmonean Brigade, the Netzah Yehuda Battalion and the Paratroopers Brigade’s Haredi Hetz company. Recruits were also expected to join the Ma’alot Tzur and Project Yoav combat support programs in the Technology and Logistics Directorate, which are adapted to accommodate an ultra-Orthodox lifestyle.

Monday’s unrest followed a tense recruitment day at Tel Hashomer on Sunday, when opponents and supporters of Haredi enlistment faced off outside the base.

Anti-draft demonstrators shouted “We will die and not enlist,” while several dozen religious and secular activists supporting the recruits responded by singing “Am Yisrael Chai,” according to Haaretz.

Moti Leitner, chairman of the new Haredi party The Charedi Public, joined supporters of the recruits and told them: “The days when the Haredi leadership was ashamed of you and did not have your back are over. We are proud of you.”

Ahead of the recruitment days, the rabbinical court of the anti-Zionist Edah HaChareidis in Jerusalem issued a sharply worded letter calling on supporters to demonstrate and try to persuade young Haredi men not to enlist, Walla reported. Protesters outside the induction center subsequently called on recruits not to enter the compound.

The demonstrations were the latest in a renewed wave of Haredi protests against military enlistment and enforcement of draft orders.

The dispute intensified after the High Court of Justice ruled unanimously in June 2024 that there was no longer a legal framework allowing the government to grant blanket military-service exemptions to ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students and that the state was therefore required to begin drafting them.

Some 80,000 Haredi men aged 18 to 24 are currently eligible for military service but have not enlisted. Haredi leaders have fiercely opposed compulsory enlistment, arguing that military service threatens their religious way of life. The issue has become increasingly contentious as the IDF has reported an acute manpower shortage after years of war and heavy reserve duty.

The coalition sought in July to shield Haredi draft evaders from arrest for seven months, but the High Court froze the legislation before it could take effect and later extended the freeze while considering petitions against it.