Shmuel Auerbach, leader of anti-draft ultra-Orthodox group, dies aged 86
Head of the radical ‘Jerusalem Faction,’ at forefront of often violent protests against conscription, suffers fatal heart attack
An ultra-Orthodox rabbi behind long-running demonstrations against the military draft of the haredi community died overnight Saturday.
Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach suffered a heart attack during Shabbat at his Jerusalem home. First responders tried to resuscitate Auerbach and he was taken to the city’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Auerbach was 86. His funeral is set for Sunday morning.
Auerbach, who was one of the prominent Lithuanian (non-Hassidic) rabbis in the ultra-Orthodox community in Israel, was the leader of the so-called Jerusalem Faction, which has been at the forefront of protests against the conscription of members of the ultra-Orthodox community.
The demonstrations turned violent at times and featured young religious students blocking main streets in Jerusalem and other cities with large ultra-Orthodox populations.
The protests centered around a decades-old debate as to whether young ultra-Orthodox men studying in yeshivas, or seminaries, 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 for 24.
At the rabbi’s instruction, Auerbach’s followers refused to show up to the draft office to apply for a deferral or exemption from the army. Followers of other rabbis do receive the exemptions and are therefore not arrested.
Last year, the High Court of Justice struck down a law exempting ultra-Orthodox men engaged in religious study from military service, saying it undermined the principle of equality before the law. The decision raised the possibility that they could be forced into service, a highly contentious proposition with dramatic political and social implications. However, the court suspended its decision for a year to allow for a new arrangement to be put in place, giving the government the option to pass a new law.
Auerbach’s death came as ultra-Orthodox parties work to advance fresh legislation exempting religious students from the draft, one of which is reportedly threatening to hold up the 2019 state budget until an exemption law is approved.
