Ultra-Orthodox youth steal IDF conscription orders from postal worker in Jerusalem

A gang of Haredi youths stole and tore up IDF draft letters from a postal worker delivering mail in Jerusalem yesterday, police say.

Jerusalem District officers are investigating the incident after the mailman filed a police complaint, claiming the group stalked him as he delivered mail in the city’s Bukharan Quarter, a Haredi-majority neighborhood.

The young men rifled through his mail cart, stole several of the conscription orders and proceeded to deface them, according to the complaint. The group continued to follow him as he went about his route by foot.

At the end of the route, the mailman returned to his car to find that the vehicle’s window had been cracked. He claimed that one of the young men was responsible for the damage.

Police attach a photo, presumably taken by the complainant, depicting one of the youths tearing up several draft letters. Another image depicts the damage done to the postal worker’s vehicle.

Police say that investigators from the Lev Habira police station in central Jerusalem have begun collecting evidence and searching for the individuals involved.

Ultra-Orthodox leaders have grown increasingly militant in their rhetoric against the conscription of yeshiva students over recent months, as police started arresting Haredi draft evaders.

Last week, the spiritual leader of the ultra-Orthodox Degel HaTorah party said that the State of Israel has “declared war on yeshiva students” following the arrest of two draft dodgers, vowing that “Haredi Judaism will embark on a global struggle like never before.”