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universal conscription

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men protest against the jailing of yeshiva students who evaded the draft outside the home of Military Police chief Brig. Gen. Yuval Yamin in Ashkelon, May 14, 2026. (Tsafrir Abayov/Flash90)
May 15, 2026, 2:57 am
Haredi extremists demonstrate outside Military Police chief’s home, 2 weeks after breaking into it
IDF condemns protest by demonstrators opposed to arrests of Haredi draft evaders; one protester reportedly detained, then released a short while later
By Emanuel Fabian and ToI Staff
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men protest against the jailing of yeshiva students who failed to comply with army recruitment orders in the Mea She’arim neighborhood of Jerusalem, October 22, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
April 26, 2026, 6:35 pm
High Court orders government to impose financial sanctions on Haredi draft evaders
In unanimous decision, court says government has failed to implement previous rulings, calls police refusal to arrest ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers an ‘unacceptable mass violation of law’
By Jeremy Sharon
MK Boaz Bismuth leads a Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, February 24, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
March 31, 2026, 11:39 am
Coalition to advance ultra-Orthodox draft exemption bill after pause due to Iran war
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chair Bismuth says work will resume on the controversial legislation when war ends, after IDF chief warned cabinet that manpower shortages risk army’s ‘collapse’
By ToI Staff
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men block a road and clash with police during a protest sparked by the deaths of two babies in an unauthorized daycare in Jerusalem, January 19, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
January 20, 2026, 3:17 pm
Daily Briefing Jan. 20: Day 837 – Tragic deaths of 2 Haredi babies fuels fury against IDF draft
Editor David Horovitz on how countries are responding to Trump’s ‘BYOB’ — bring your own billion — for his Board of Peace invitees, and observations from three weeks in Japan
By Amanda Borschel-Dan and David Horovitz
Dr. Gilad Malach (courtesy) superimposed over a photo of ultra-Orthodox Jews from the two rival factions of the Ponevezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, November 19, 2025. (Erik Marmor/Flash90)
December 2, 2025, 9:40 pm
Dr. Gilad Malach: Haredi draft bill is a wedge issue for a divided nation
As the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee debates a new bill aimed at regulating Haredi draft exemptions, Israel Democracy Institute research fellow explains its evolution
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee legal adviser Miri Frenkel Shor (right) and chairman Boaz Bismuth (center) during a discussion on ultra-Orthodox conscription, September 3, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
November 29, 2025, 11:16 pm
Knesset panel to begin discussing Bismuth’s draft exemption bill this week
Committee’s legal adviser said to warn revised proposal won’t withstand High Court scrutiny; Gallant says Likud has reached ‘new low’ with ‘inconceivable’ bill
By ToI Staff, Sam Sokol and Charlie Summers
MK Yuli Edelstein attends a Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee at the Knesset in Jerusalem, September 17, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
November 28, 2025, 2:43 pm
Ousted chair of Knesset defense panel: Government pushing ‘exact opposite’ of a conscription law
Likud MK Yuli Edelstein, who backed stricter measure, says critics inside coalition of bill exempting yeshiva students from IDF service will face ‘threats’ ahead of vote on legislation
By Sam Sokol
Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion delivers a victory speech early on February 28, 2024 after securing reelection (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
November 25, 2025, 4:14 am
Jerusalem mayor says rioters broke his windshield during visit to Haredi neighborhood
Moshe Lion’s office says he wasn’t injured in incident and that police have launched an investigation into latest attack on elected official by ultra-Orthodox extremists
By ToI Staff
Haredi extremists chant "Traitor" and bang on the door of Shas MK Yinon Azoulay's apartment in Ashdod, November 19, 2025. (X screenshot)
November 20, 2025, 11:14 am
Extremist Haredi protesters chant ‘traitor’ at Shas lawmaker’s door
Yinon Azoulay becomes third ultra-Orthodox MK to be attacked over proposed conscription bill
By ToI Staff
Ultra-Orthodox Jews protest against conscription into the Israel Defense Forces, in Jerusalem on October 30, 2025. (Eli Katzoff/The Times of Israel)
October 30, 2025, 11:37 pm
Ultra-Orthodox fight against IDF service
On October 30, 2025, some 200,000 Haredi men flood Jerusalem in protest against conscription into the IDF, clashing with police
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
Tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox men attend a protest against mandatory military conscription, in Jerusalem, October 30, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
October 30, 2025, 7:22 pm
200,000 ultra-Orthodox men block entry to Jerusalem in protest against serving in IDF
20-year-old man falls to his death after scaling unfinished building in construction site; protesters attack journalists, clash with Border Police
By Charlie Summers, ToI Staff, Agencies and Emanuel Fabian
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men block a road during a protest against the jailing of yeshiva students who failed to comply with an army recruitment order, in Jerusalem on August 7, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
October 30, 2025, 6:57 am
Roadblocks and school closures: What to expect during Thursday’s Haredi anti-draft rally
‘Million man’ protest against the crackdown on ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers will shut down roads in and around Jerusalem and stymie public transportation in the nation’s capital
By Shira Silkoff, Charlie Summers and Sam Sokol
Illustrative image: Hamas terrorists carry a white bag believed to contain a body, after retrieving it from a tunnel during a search for the remains of hostages in Hamad City, Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, October 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
October 29, 2025, 3:00 pm
Daily Briefing Oct. 29: Day 754 – Faking ‘discovery’ of a body, depraved Hamas plays to type
Editor David Horovitz on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s challenges in upholding the ceasefire, plus a new bill aimed at paving the way for Haredi youth to dodge the draft
By Amanda Borschel-Dan and David Horovitz
Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, during a weekly teaching at the Yazdim synagogue in Jerusalem, on June 7, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/FLASH90)
October 26, 2025, 11:34 pm
Former chief rabbi calls father of slain soldier a ‘heretic’ for backing Haredi draft
Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, spiritual leader of the Shas party, suggests he wouldn’t count Rabbi Tamir Granot in a prayer quorum, draws broad condemnation
By Rossella Tercatin and ToI Staff
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