Illustrative: Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men in the Mea Shearim neighborhood in Jerusalem walk alongside an Israeli soldier. June 6, 2008. (Lara Savage/Flash 90)
Police said Thursday that a soldier was attacked by a crowd of ultra-Orthodox Jews as he walked through the Jerusalem neighborhood of Mea Shearim.
According to police, dozens of rioters hurled objects at the Israel Defense Forces soldier while shouting insults at him.
He was taken to safety by police officers who arrived on the scene and was given medical treatment for a light wound he received to his hand.
“The Israel Police will work with all the means at its disposal in order to identify those who took part in verbal or physical attacks on uniformed men and bring them to justice,” police said in a statement.
Many in the ultra-Orthodox community shun the mandatory military service that applies to most Israelis, and the community has historically enjoyed blanket exemptions from the army in favor of religious seminary studies.
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Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men argue with an Israeli soldier during a protest in Jerusalem against the draft for members of their community on October 17, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Tuesday’s elections were triggered after staunchly secular Avigdor Liberman of the right-wing Yisrael Beytenu party refused to enter a coalition led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the wake of the April vote unless a bill formalizing exemptions to mandatory military service for seminary students was passed without changes, a demand rejected by the ultra-Orthodox parties in the prospective government.
Liberman on Wednesday reiterated his insistence that ultra-Orthodox military draft was among his preconditions for entering any coalition.
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