Anti-government protesters at Habima Square rail against Haredi draft exemption, attacks on judiciary

Hundreds of anti-government protesters rally at Tel Aviv’s Habima Square.

Speakers rail against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s efforts to codify the Haredi community’s exemption from military service in order to prevent his ultra-Orthodox coalition partners from toppling the government.

Or Schwarzman, a 24-year-old who has clocked hundreds of days of reserve duty since the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, slams Netanyahu for holding “intense negotiations” on the Haredi draft exemption even as “the negotiations for the hostages languishing in the tunnels don’t interest anyone in this government.”

“What is going through your head, that you even dare to talk about draft-dodging in days like these?” he asks.

Former deputy attorney general Dina Zilber accuses government ministers of inciting against protesters and the judiciary.

“Who are the top inciters?” she asks. “Not some crazy fringe, but the Israeli government and its head.”

The rally begins with a moment of silence for eight soldiers killed over the past week, including two whose names have not yet been made public.

In the middle of the square, protesters hold up a large piece of yellow cloth, curling it so that it looks like the ubiquitous ribbon symbolizing the fight for the captives’ release.

On the south side of the square, left-wing protesters hold their own small demonstration, unfurling a large banner calling for the creation of an independent Palestinian state. These protesters leave ahead of the main rally to attend a silent vigil for slain Gaza children on Kaplan Street.

Protesters from the main rally are set to march to the anti-government hostage families’ rally on Begin Road.