Extremist Haredim block intersection in protest of IDF draft

Members of an extremist ultra-Orthodox group, the Jerusalem Faction, stage a protest blocking a major intersection in Bnei Brak in a rally against Haredim being drafted into the IDF.

Police have blocked off the entire road, which spans from the border of Ramat Gan to the edge of Petah Tikva.

על רקע חוק הגיוס: מפגינים מהפלג הירושלמי החלו לחסום כבישים בגבול בין רמת גן ובני ברק. פרשי משטרה בדרכם למקום | תיעוד@AnnaPines_ pic.twitter.com/tcVt7e3ZaW

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) December 24, 2024

Ultra-Orthodox parties in the coalition have demanded the government pass sweeping legislation to exempt Haredim from serving, after the High Court of Justice ruled in June that there was no legal basis for the decades-long practice of exempting them from the draft

A bill that would “very slowly” increase the rate of ultra-Orthodox conscription is currently stuck in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, whose chairman, Likud MK Yuli Edelstein, has said that it will only pass if lawmakers can reach a “broad consensus” on the matter.