Ultra-Orthodox demonstration ends after over four hours, with most failing to reach military prison

After more than four hours, the ultra-Orthodox anti-conscription protest convoys, which set out from around the country to protest the detention of draft evading yeshiva students, have turned around and begun heading home.

Most of the demonstrators do not appear to have reached their destination, the Neve Tzedek (Beit Lid) military prison in Kfar Yona, where police turned away anyone who showed up.

The head of one Haredi yeshiva nevertheless managed to set up a truck near the prison from which he blasted messages of encouragement to the incarcerated draft evaders via megaphone.

הפרגוד: מקריאים את רשימת האסירים ליד כלא 10 (אנשים לא באו לשם כ"כ) pic.twitter.com/MCCgxuV3uu

— הפרגוד (@moshepargod) June 24, 2026

The protests were marked by scattered clashes and car accidents but did not culminate in any violence at Kfar Yona itself, where residents gathered at the city entrance in a bid to block demonstrators from entering the neighborhood of the prison.

“The decision to end the protest at this hour stems from a deep sense of responsibility and consideration for the traveling public and families on the road,” the organizers say, claiming that “nearly 10,000 vehicle owners” took part in the demonstration.

The protest, they say, sent a “resounding message: Enough! There is no path forward without the path of Torah! The Haredi public has ceased to remain silent in the face of the trampling of the Torah world and the imposition of sanctions, and will stand firmly for its rights.”

They call for authorities to “immediately release” jailed draft evaders and “cancel all decrees” against yeshiva students.

“If the demands of the Haredi public fall on deaf ears, the [organizing] committee will consider additional, surprising courses of action, in accordance with” rabbinic guidance, they conclude.