From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, October 6, 2026
Opposition leaders assail government over Modiin clashes, tie violence to Haredi draft evasion
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleAriela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.
Opposition leaders continue to denounce the government over last night’s clashes in Modiin, where ultra-Orthodox rioters attacked Military Police soldiers and prevented them from arresting a draft evader, forcing security forces to be evacuated by Israel Police without the suspect.
Democrats leader Yair Golan says that the government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has become “a tangible threat to Israel’s security.”
“While our soldiers are falling on the front lines, Netanyahu’s natural partners dishonor the blood of our fallen,” he says, adding that there is “a direct line from the draft evasion enabled by Netanyahu to anarchy.”
B’Yachad leader Naftali Bennett warns that Israel is “one step away from another disaster,” branding the incident “the legacy of Netanyahu-Deri-Smotrich.”
Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman says it is “simply intolerable that IDF soldiers are forced to flee under heavy police protection as though they were in Jenin rather than Modiin.”
“Without the draft dodgers, Bibi has no government,” he adds.
“If what happened last night in Modiin had happened in the Arab community, the state would have gone berserk — and rightly so,” Reservists party leader Yoaz Hendel says. “Why is the loss of state authority in the Haredi community being ignored?”
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