Ultra-Orthodox children pose with signs that say: "Russia is here!" amid a protest against efforts to conscript Haredi men to the Israel Defense Forces, in Jerusalem, October 30, 2025. (Charlie Summers/Times of Israel)
Hundreds of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Israelis have gathered at the entrance to Jerusalem for a massive prayer rally against efforts to conscript Haredi men to the IDF. Protesters are blocking the entrance to the city.
Rallygoers throng the streets of the capital carrying blue and yellow signs that read: “Russia is here” and “Stalin is here.”
Several young men marching past the train station carry a Hostages and Missing Families Forum banner, presumably pinched from a nearby home, emblazoned with the slogan: “Bringing back the hostages, bringing back hope.”
Anti-conscription protesters have regularly appropriated the slogans and symbols of the movement for a hostage deal to call for the release of draft-dodgers from prison, drawing outcry from the Hostages Families Forum.
Haredi Jews attending a Jerusalem rally against conscription to the IDF carry a banner that reads: “Bringing back the hostages, bringing back hope,” in a bid to coopt hostage families’ slogan in their protest against the draft on October 30, 2025. (Charlie Summers/Times of Israel)
One participant approaches The Times of Israel with a poster labeling secular Israelis as “parasites,” imploring them to “follow the commandments.”
Security guards have locked the doors to the central bus station after Haredim began arguing with people exiting the building, throwing water bottles and calling women shiksas.
Rallygoers tell The Times of Israel that the bystanders provoked them.
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From the Liveblog of
Thursday, October 30, 2025
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