Two arrested after ultra-Orthodox protesters overturn Military Police car in Ramat Gan

Ultra-Orthodox protesters flipped over a Military Police car overnight Tuesday in Ramat Gan in central Israel, as they sought to prevent officers from arresting a yeshiva student found to be evading army service.

Dozens of protesters rushed to the site of the attempted arrest and surrounded the Military Police officers and their vehicle. Video from the scene showed several protesters sitting directly in front of the car, blocking the law enforcement officers from moving through the crowd.

A group of protesters then flipped the police car over.

The Military Police officers, who had exited the vehicle, hid in a nearby building until they were later escorted to safety by local police, the Kan public broadcaster reported.

Footage taken later in the night, after the protesters had been pushed back, showed police officers restoring the vehicle back onto its wheels.

The Israel Defense Forces, in a statement, said that during the attempted arrest, “a large number of rioters gathered at the scene, disrupted the proper conduct of the operation, and at one point attacked a Military Police patrol car and overturned it.”

אירוע אלימות חסר תקדים בבני ברק: המשטרה הצבאית ניסתה לעצור הלילה צעיר חרדי עריק בגבול בני ברק רמת גן. בקווי ההתרעות של הפלג הירושלמי הזעיקו למקום מאות מפגינים שהתעמתו באלימות עם המשטרה ואף הפכו והשחיתו את ניידות המשטרה הצבאית ובהמשך גם גנבו ציוד צבאי ואזיקים מהרכבים, כשלבסוף… pic.twitter.com/wswNFdgvJM

— דניאל גרובייס Daniel Grovais (@daniel_grovais) November 26, 2025

There were no injuries, but the Military Police car was damaged, the IDF said.

The IDF said that the attempted arrest failed, “as the draft evader was not at home at the time.” Army Radio reported that the draft dodger had been home when Military Police arrived, but managed to slip away and fled to his yeshiva under the cover of the unrest outside.

Israel Police officers were dispatched to the scene, dispersed the rioters, and detained two suspects involved in overturning the car, the IDF said.

“The IDF strongly condemns any attempt to harm IDF soldiers performing their duties lawfully and will continue to enforce in accordance with its authority and the law,” the military added.

Citing a source from within the Military Police, Army Radio reported that rioters stole handcuffs and equipment from the vehicle.

According to Ynet, the protesters were scrambled to the location by an anti-draft organization that has established a rapid notification system that alerts locals when attempts are made to arrest a draft dodger. The so-called “Color Black” system sent out notifications as soon as it was informed that Military Police had arrived at the Ramat Gan address, and hundreds of protesters swiftly headed to the location.

רמת גן: מפגינים חרדים הפכו ניידת משטרתית וחסמו כוח משטרה שהגיע לעצור עריק חרדי. המוחים נהרו למקום והחלו להתעמת עם הכוחות. העריק כלל לא היה בבית, אלא בישיבה.
3 נעצרו.

(שילה פריד, וינט) pic.twitter.com/GTUo8Yraiv

— חדר מלחמה (@waroomisrael) November 26, 2025

For the past year, the leadership of the ultra-Orthodox, also called Haredim, community has pushed to pass a law largely keeping its constituency out of the Israel Defense Forces, after the High Court ruled that decades-long blanket exemptions from army duty afforded to full-time Haredi yeshiva students were illegal.

After repeated delays, Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Boaz Bismuth (Likud) is slated to launch a new set of hearings next week on the government’s controversial bill enshrining ultra-Orthodox exemptions after receiving a green light from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Despite Bismuth’s announcement in October that he would soon submit a revised draft of the bill to the committee with the intention of bringing it to a final plenum vote in December, progress has been marked by repeated delays caused by ultra-Orthodox intransigence and internal opposition to the bill within the coalition.

The United Torah Judaism party’s Degel HaTorah faction announced last week that it had received a green light from its senior spiritual leaders to support the bill, while a senior figure in fellow Haredi party Shas told The Times of Israel that it was also in favor.

Some 80,000 ultra-Orthodox men aged between 18 and 24 are currently believed to be eligible for military service, but have not enlisted. The IDF has said it urgently needs 12,000 recruits due to the strain on standing and reserve forces caused by the war against Hamas in Gaza and other military challenges.

The IDF has increased enforcement against evasion, but its arrests of Haredi draft dodgers have not led to an increase in enlistment and have been panned as largely ineffective by the IDF’s Personnel Directorate.