From the Liveblog of
Sunday, May 31, 2026
Hardline Haredi group to hold demonstrations this afternoon in Jerusalem, Bnei Brak over draft evader arrests
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. 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"
The Jerusalem Faction calls for “stormy” anti-conscription demonstrations in Jerusalem and Bnei Brak this afternoon at 5 p.m. following the arrests of multiple draft evaders over the weekend.
According to the hardline ultra-Orthodox group, six yeshiva students were arrested for draft evasion on Friday, three of whom were later freed, while the authorities attempted to arrest a seventh near Kiryat Ye’arim around 3:40 a.m. this morning.
In an email, the group, which runs a hotline to mobilize protesters to block evader arrests, stated that the yeshiva student “was released after the crowds arrived.”
A spokesman for the group said that there would be “stormy demonstrations” following the arrests.
The Jerusalem Faction, an extremist ultra-Orthodox group numbering some 60,000 members, regularly holds rowdy demonstrations against the military enlistment of yeshiva students.
The Knesset’s ultra-Orthodox parties have harshly protested the arrests of draft evaders, with Moshe Gafni, the chair of UTJ’s Degel HaTorah faction, last week urging local party representatives on regional councils across the country to halt all cooperation with law enforcement over the issue.
The Times of Israel Community.