Haredi anti-enlisment protesters clash with cops, block highways in Bnei Brak, Jerusalem

At least 3 arrested for attacking police, encircling soldier; police escort two Shas MKs out of event crashed by rioters; PM reportedly wary of riots' political fallout

By Noam Lehmann 8 October 2026, 11:58 pm
Haredi protesters block cars during an anti-enlistment demonstration in Jerusalem on October 8, 2026. The two protesters on the right hold a sign reading, 'either Haredi or military.' (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Thousands of Haredi boys and men from the extremist Jerusalem Faction blocked major roads for hours on Thursday in Jerusalem and in Bnei Brak in protests against military enlistment, as others crashed an event of the Sephardic ultra-Orthodox party Shas in the Modiin Illit settlement, leading senior lawmakers to be evacuated.

Opposition leaders slammed the government over the protests, the latest in a string of Haredi anti-enlistment rallies that have obstructed roadways. The opposition politicians pointed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s efforts earlier this year to appease Haredi coalition partners with unpopular legislation that would codify the blanket exemptions from the draft long afforded to yeshiva students.

Channel 12 reported that Netanyahu, wary of the protests’ political fallout less than three weeks before the October 27 election, had tried and failed to get Haredi parties to cancel the protests, despite the Jerusalem Faction being unaffiliated with the parties.

Police used stun grenades and clubs to disperse protesters at the Chords Bridge entrance to Jerusalem, and on Route 4 and Jabotinsky Road in the central Haredi city of Bnei Brak, footage showed.

At least three protesters were arrested, including two who assaulted officers in a riot after police declared the Route 4 demonstration illegal. The third was among dozens of protesters who encircled a soldier at the Chords Bridge entrance to Jerusalem, police said, adding that officers rescued the soldier unscathed.

An Israel Hayom reporter on the scene said the soldier was Haredi, and published footage showing Border Police officers scuffling with protesters. Police used a stun grenade, the reporter said.

Footage from Jerusalem showed drivers blocked by the demonstration pulling away as protesters encircled their cars.

In one video from the Chords Bridge entrance, a youth who held on to a car with another protester was knocked to the ground as the car pulled away.

Another video from the area showed a Haredi driver encircled by protesters pulling away as a boy leaned against the hood of his car. Protesters ran toward the car, kicking it and opening doors as it drove off.

Two other videos from Jerusalem showed officers trying and failing to pull Haredi protesters off the road by the protesters’ tzitzit, or ritual fringes, as other protesters yelled “antisemite” and “Nazi.”

In Bnei Brak, protesters on Jabotinsky Road gathered at the entrance to an office building that houses a Defense Ministry program for Haredi men serving in military intelligence units, footage showed.

Deri, Malkieli escorted by police after rioters breach Shas event

Earlier in the day, Jerusalem Faction rioters also tried to shut down a Shas party event attended by chairman Aryeh Deri and MK Michael Malkieli in Modiin Illit, an ultra-Orthodox settlement in the central West Bank, Haredi media outlets reported.

Deri is seen in some Haredi circles as too accommodating to demands to draft ultra-Orthodox men to the military. His party has run an ad campaign ahead of the election trying to project a moderate position on the issue, even though it staunchly opposed efforts in recent years to conscript Haredi men.

Footage filmed inside the event hall showed youths banging on the glass doors of the event hall as Deri spoke.

Separate footage from inside the hall published by ultra-Orthodox outlet Behadrei Haredim showed that the youths managed to open another glass door, clashed with attendees at the entrance and threw water inside.

Police said they dispatched officers to break up the gathering and helped the lawmakers leave.

“There was no damage or injuries, and order was reestablished,” police said.

A Kan public broadcaster reporter claimed the images from the Modiin Illit hall were published by Shas itself in an effort to distance the party from the Jerusalem Faction amid Thursday’s protests.

The party also put out a statement baselessly claiming the protests in Bnei Brak and Jerusalem received funding from anti-government groups that had protested against the judicial overhaul in Tel Aviv in 2023. The Haredi parties were part of the coalition that advanced the overhaul.

The Jerusalem Faction had called Thursday’s protests over the purported arrest of Haredi draft dodgers, though the military admitted on Tuesday that it has not been actively working to enforce enlistment orders against ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers “in the recent period.”

The IDF’s comments were published after hundreds of ultra-Orthodox protesters clashed with police overnight Monday-Tuesday at an apartment building in Modiin in an effort to prevent Military Police from arresting a Haredi draft dodger. The security forces ultimately left without taking the man into custody.

Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.

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