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Haredi

MK Boaz Bismuth leads a Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, February 24, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
June 28, 2026, 9:19 pm
Knesset panel to advance measure freezing arrests of Haredi draft evaders for 90 days
Foreign affairs and defense panel chair makes announcement amid bid to end Haredi boycott of coalition; opposition slams bill equating Torah study, IDF service
By Ariela Karmel, Sam Sokol and ToI Staff
Supreme Court President Isaac Amit at a hearing at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, May 31, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
June 15, 2026, 5:34 am
Haredi protesters rally outside chief justice’s home to oppose draft dodger’s arrest
Protest is latest to target a High Court official, after home of Amit’s deputy Noam Sohlberg hit by riot earlier this month; mass Haredi demonstrations have also blocked roads
By ToI Staff and Charlie Summers
Haredi men protest the arrest of draft dodgers on June 5, 2026, at the Russian Compound in Jerusalem. (Social media, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
June 6, 2026, 1:08 am
Hundreds of Haredi rioters try to break into Jerusalem police station, attack cops in Beit Shemesh
Riots on Shabbat, the day of rest, come days after ultra-Orthodox extremists attacked deputy chief justice’s home and held other anti-police protests over arrest of draft dodgers
By ToI Staff
Rabbi Yosef Shoveli speaks in a sermon, uploaded on October 16, 2018. (YouTube screenshot/Arutz Hatorah)
May 7, 2026, 11:40 am
Meron rabbi arrested after cult watchdog warned of sex abuse in strictly run group
Accusers say Rabbi Yosef Shoveli, 54, passed off sexual abuse as ‘spiritual’ acts; in group he leads, personal decisions are tightly controlled and members do chores without pay
By Michael Horovitz and ToI Staff
Ultra-Orthodox protesters block a road and clash with police at the entrance to Jerusalem during a protest against the jailing of yeshiva students who evaded the draft, April 29, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
April 29, 2026, 9:29 pm
Haredi anti-draft protesters block entrance to Jerusalem, are dispersed after 2 hours
Day after members of extremist Jerusalem Faction breached home of IDF officer, hundreds of ultra-Orthodox protesters block cars, resist police in opposition to arrest of draft evaders
By ToI Staff
Around 1,000 ultra-Orthodox men gather in Bnei Brak for a Passover holiday event, despite Home Front Command restrictions on gatherings during wartime, on April 5, 2026. (Daniel Nafusi)
April 6, 2026, 4:17 am
Flouting wartime restrictions, over 1,000 men gather for address by top Haredi rabbi
Spokesperson for rabbi insists gathering held in protective space in Bnei Brak; police say it refused permit for event and requested its dispersal after learning of it
By Sam Sokol
Ultra-Orthodox man arrested by police during riots following an assault on two female Israeli soldiers in Bnei Brak, central Israel, February 15, 2026. (Flash90)
February 17, 2026, 10:45 am
Bnei Brak riot shows that to integrate Haredim, Israel should expect strife
A recent study found that by 2050, nearly one in four Israelis will be ultra-Orthodox; leaders have only started to grapple with how that will change the country
By Ben Sales
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men block a road as they take part in a protest against military conscription in Bnei Brak, February 9, 2026. (AP/Leo Correa)
February 9, 2026, 10:05 pm
Haredi protesters block highway, clash with police after suspected draft dodgers arrested
Lapid slams stipends given to draft evaders, calls for government funding for ultra-Orthodox to be withheld; lawmakers advance bill banning use of ‘skunk’ spray at protests
By Charlie Summers and Sam Sokol
The scene after a Haredi teen was hit by a bus and killed on Route 3533 at the Aluma Junction near Komemiyut on January 21, 2026 (Magen David Adom)
January 21, 2026, 12:25 pm
Haredi teen hit by bus and killed; police suspect driver of reckless manslaughter
In video, passengers heard expressing concern vehicle moving too fast given the large number of people wandering in road near Komemiyut; second such fatal incident this month
By ToI Staff and Sam Sokol
Ultra-Orthodox men sit on a bridge overlooking the crowd during a protest by ultra-Orthodox Jews against conscription into Israel's military in Jerusalem on October 30, 2025. (AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)
October 30, 2025, 9:54 pm
‘My children would rather go to jail’: Haredi protesters insist Torah study must come first
‘We have been fighting in the way our ancestors taught us, through prayer and Torah study,’ says Jerusalem rally participant; others claim IDF doesn’t need them, say struggle heralds Messianic redemption
By Zev Stub
A demonstrator holds up a poster of Haredi draft evader Ariel Shamai which reads: "Bring him back to yeshiva now!" and in smaller print on the left: "Until the last hostage," imitating the rhetoric of the hostage families' protest movement, during an anti-draft demonstration in Jerusalem on October 22, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
October 22, 2025, 10:47 pm
Haredi anti-draft protests decry dodgers’ arrests, co-opting hostage families’ rhetoric
‘Until the last hostage’: Protest groups use fliers and slogans likening detainees to those kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7; demonstrators block roads, throw stones, call cops ‘Nazis’
By Charlie Summers and Sam Sokol
The front page of Yated Neeman on August 7, 2025, with a headline reading "War." (Screen capture)
August 7, 2025, 2:54 pm
Haredi newspapers declare ‘war’ over IDF enlistment efforts, prompting outrage
‘There is a war, but it’s in a different place, and people are actually being killed in it,’ Yair Lapid responds; MK Zvi Sukkot: Editor pouring ‘gasoline on bonfire of hatred’
By Sam Sokol
Haredi protesters demonstrate against efforts to draft yeshiva students into the IDF at the entrance to Jerusalem on July 23, 2025. (Charlie Summers/Times of Israel)
July 24, 2025, 2:27 am
Haredi protesters block entrance to Jerusalem, roads elsewhere to protest arrest of draft-dodgers
Cops in capital initially beat, trample protesters but then stand down, allowing them to halt traffic for over 2 hours; police chief orders probe into violence toward demonstrators
By Charlie Summers
Yeshiva students listen to a Torah lesson at the Hebron Yeshiva in Jerusalem on August 16, 2018. (Aharon Krohn/Flash90)
May 23, 2025, 8:26 am
Friday Focus with Sam Sokol: Why Haredim see themselves as warriors
ToI’s political correspondent delves into the ethos of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community and their battle against serving in the military
By Amanda Borschel-Dan and Sam Sokol
Rabbi David Leybel, founder of Achvat Torah, in his Jerusalem office, March 2025. (Rossella Tercatin/Times of Israel)
March 25, 2025, 5:14 pm
‘Our shared nation is under attack’: A Haredi rabbi explains how to draft the ultra-Orthodox
Rabbi David Leybel has already registered significant achievements in integrating Haredim into the workforce. Now he’s turning his sights on military service
By Rossella Tercatin
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