Police arrest 5 at fresh ultra-Orthodox anti-draft protests

Police arrested five ultra-Orthodox demonstrators in Jerusalem on Thursday for blocking roads during a protest against military conscription.

During the demonstration, which was organized by the anti-Zionist Orthodox Council of Jerusalem, hundreds of protesters blocked traffic at the city’s Shabbat Square, a key intersection leading to several ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods.

A number of protesters held up signs reading, “We would rather than die than be drafted.”

The demonstrators also temporarily blocked the nearby light rail and Haim Bar-Lev Boulevard, a major thoroughfare.

Police said officers dispersed the protesters.

Thursday’s protest was the most recent in ongoing demonstrations sparked by the arrest of two yeshiva students for failing to show up to the Israel Defense Forces draft offices.

On Monday, police arrested 10 people during protests that snarled traffic in Jerusalem and last week arrested 120 ultra-Orthodox protesters in similar protests, in which several thousand hardline anti-draft demonstrators took to the streets.

The so-called Jerusalem Faction, organizers of the protests, said they planned to push back against what they claimed was a police crackdown this week that has seen dozens of protesters arrested.

Protesters have accused police of using excessive force, including during a protest last week in which an officer was filmed running through the crowd with a gun drawn, threatening to shoot demonstrators.

Earlier this year, the High Court of Justice struck down a law exempting ultra-Orthodox men engaged in religious study from military service, saying it undermined equality. The decision raises the possibility that they could be forced into service, a highly contentious proposition with political implications.

However, the court suspended its decision for a year to allow for preparations for the new arrangement, giving the government the option to pass a new law.

Ultra-Orthodox political parties, which hold key positions in the ruling coalition, are likely to draft new legislation that could override the court ruling and keep the exemption in place.

The issue is part of a decades-old debate as to whether young ultra-Orthodox men studying at yeshivas should be called up for compulsory military service like the rest of Israel’s Jewish population. After reaching the age of 18, men must serve for 32 months and women must serve for 24.

The ultra-Orthodox oppose serving for a variety of reasons, with the most extreme believing a Jewish state is not allowed before the coming of the messiah. Others argue that study of religious texts is just as important to Israel as military service or that ultra-Orthodox soldiers would be confronted with irreligious behavior.