From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, March 26, 2024
Dozens protest bill on Haredi draft avoidance outside Netanyahu’s office
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Chanting “elections now,” dozens of demonstrators gather outside the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office in Jerusalem to protest the government’s draft legislation on ultra-Orthodox enlistment.
Standing on top of a full-size model “unity tank” across from the PMO, a veteran of the Yom Kippur War demands that the government impose “equality” of the burden between Haredim, Arabs and secular Israelis.
In response, protesters, many of whom belong to the Brothers in Arms anti-government movement, chant “Equality for everyone” and “Elections now.”
“God is not on your side,” one of the protesters screams into a bullhorn.
The protest was planned to coincide with a cabinet discussion of the legislation, which was postponed at the last moment due to pushback by Netanyahu’s political allies. Both Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and war cabinet Minister Benny Gantz, among others, have expressed objections to the legislation, whose passage Netanyahu has reportedly stated is necessary for the continued existence of the coalition.
Gantz has threatened to bolt the coalition if the legislation passes, arguing that he needs to see “a solution for recruitment, not an exemption from recruitment.”
Other protesters gathered earlier this morning outside Bnei Brak’s Slabodka Yeshiva, demonstrating against the long-time exemption from military service given to students at ultra-Orthodox seminaries.
The Times of Israel Community.