Haredi extremists block Jerusalem road outside event honoring ultra-Orthodox troops

Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox extremists blocked a central road outside Jerusalem’s International Convention Center on Tuesday to protest an event being held to honor Haredi soldiers.

The Ynet news site reported that some extremists tried to break into the event and were rebuffed by law enforcement.

Blocking Shazar Boulevard, protesters harassed attendants, chanted “We’ll die and won’t enlist,” clashed with passers-by and drivers stuck in the hubbub, and yelled “Nazis” at Border Police officers who were working to clear the road, Ynet reported.

The protesters also reportedly handed out flyers calling Shas party chief Aryeh Deri a “murderer of souls” due to his participation in talks over a compromise bill to draft some yeshiva students.

At a separate, illegal Haredi demonstration outside the IDF draft office in Kiryat Ono, police arrested one protester for allegedly assaulting a law enforcement officer, Walla reported.

The hardliners oppose any ultra-Orthodox enlistment to the military, fearing drafted yeshiva students will be secularized, and have stepped up demonstrations in recent days, as the Knesset works on legislation to draft more Haredim and the army has said it will more vigorously enforce draft dodging in the community.

The IDF has sought to accommodate Haredi recruits, including by adding options to serve in a gender-segregated setting. The military recently opened the first Haredi brigade and air force technical unit, and has said that starting in 2026, there would be no limit to the number of ultra-Orthodox servicemen the IDF is technically able to enlist.

The event at the Jerusalem convention center marked 25 years since the military opened its first designated options for ultra-Orthodox to serve — including the Netzah Yehuda battalion, which has come under scrutiny for alleged human rights abuses.

The event, sponsored by the IDF, the Netzah Yehuda Foundation and other groups, included a job fair “to give Haredi army veterans opportunities for professional integration in the market,” ultra-Orthodox news site Kikar HaShabbat reported.

Military service for Haredi yeshiva students, a perennial hot-button issue, has become all the more fraught amid the war in Gaza and the army’s ensuing personnel shortage.

Some 300,000 Israelis have been called to serve as reservists amid the war in addition to conscripts, while the vast majority of some 70,000 eligible Haredi males were exempted. The army has said it is short about 10,000 troops.

In June, the High Court ruled that the yeshivas students’ decades-long exemption no longer has any legal framework, prompting the government — which includes both main Haredi parties — to work on a compromise law.

Following the ruling, the IDF sent out 3,000 draft orders over the summer, but just 230 draftees showed up at induction centers. In November, the army sent out another 7,000 draft orders.

The military has already sent over 1,000 warrants that would prevent those who ignored multiple draft orders from leaving the country.

In 2023, the Haredi community numbered some 1.3 million people — roughly 13.6% of Israel’s population — and are expected to comprise about a third of Israel’s population within three decades, according to the Israel Democracy Institute.

Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.