Three police injured in ultra-Orthodox protest
Demonstrators throw rocks at officers, try to block roads over arrest of man who ignored draft summons
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Three police were lightly hurt Saturday night as ultra-Orthodox men rallied in three locations in protest over the arrest of Eliyahu Cohen, a member of their community who refused to enlist in the IDF.
In Jerusalem, police arrested six people as dozens of men attempted to block the road at the entrance to the city.
Some of the demonstrators threw rocks at police and set garbage bins alight.
A second demonstration took place at the entrance to the largely ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak.
Three police were injured there when rioters hurled rocks at them and one protester was arrested.
The road there was also quickly reopened.
In Ashdod, police arrested one man as a group of Haredim celebrated the release of another man who had been jailed for failing to answer a draft summons.
Ultra-Orthodox protesters have taken to the streets several times in the past year to express their objection to new laws requiring them to be drafted into national service.
The latest version of the draft bill has faced scathing criticism from ultra-Orthodox leaders over its inclusion of individual criminal sanctions against draft-dodgers that would kick in if the community as a whole failed to meet rising quotas for the draft.
But it has also faced criticism from proponents of an equal draft for delaying such criminal sanctions until mid-2017, after the next election.
The Times of Israel Community.