From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, April 28, 2026
Haredi hardliners protest outside Military Police commander’s home in Ashkelon
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"
As part of widespread anti-conscription protests taking place across the country in response to the arrest of an ultra-Orthodox draft dodger, a large crowd of members of the hardline Jerusalem Faction gather to demonstrate outside the home of Military Police commander Brig. Gen. Yuval Yamin in Ashkelon.
Video from the scene shows clashes between police and demonstrators, with law enforcement dragging Haredi protesters out of the street in front of the senior officer’s home.
The High Court of Justice ordered the government on Sunday to adopt a raft of measures that would punish ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers by denying them various welfare benefits unless they enlist for military service.
The court also ordered the state to open “actual criminal proceedings” against Haredi draft dodgers, calling the police’s failure to arrest such people “unacceptable” and describing the situation as a “knowing and ongoing mass violation of the law.”
Police have been systematically preventing the army from arresting draft evaders in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods, IDF officials claimed during a meeting held by Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara in late March.
תבינו את הדרמה באשקלון: עשרות מפגינים מהפלג הירושלמי נכנסו לתוך ביתו של מפקד המשטרה הצבאית תת אלוף יובל יאמין ומתבצרים שם https://t.co/2ohPMV8KN4 pic.twitter.com/iimgCNsbY3
— יואלי ברים yoeli brim (@yoeli_brim) April 28, 2026
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