Traffic disruptions spread across Israel as ultra-Orthodox protest military draft

Demonstrators objected to the police response to arrests linked to draft enforcement.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Ultra-Orthodox protesters disrupted traffic across Israel on Wednesday with slow-moving vehicle convoys and road blockages as demonstrations intensified against the military draft of yeshiva students.

The protests began in the afternoon from dozens of locations, with organizers seeking to reach Military Prison 10 near Kfar Yona, which has become a focal point for demonstrations involving detained ultra-Orthodox draft resisters.

Police deployed to prevent protesters from reaching the facility and said demonstrators abandoned vehicles and entered traffic lanes on a highway. Heavy traffic congestion was reported on major roads nationwide.

Reuters images showed ultra-Orthodox protesters on the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway near Abu Ghosh, where convoys moved along routes in an effort to block traffic.

Several ultra-Orthodox lawmakers participated in the demonstrations, including United Torah Judaism MK Yitzchak Goldknopf and Shas MK Michael Malkieli.

Goldknopf told Kol Barama radio: “There will come a day when we turn the country upside down.”

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir also became a target of criticism during the protests.

Demonstrators objected to the police response to arrests linked to draft enforcement, with some carrying signs describing Ben Gvir as the “No. 1 enemy of the Jews.”

Confrontations were reported in several locations. In Arad, clashes broke out between secular residents and ultra-Orthodox protesters, leading police and Border Police forces to intervene.

Arad Mayor Yair Maayan urged calm and called on residents to “act with restraint and mutual respect, and to refrain from violent activity among residents.”

Near Kiryat Ono, video footage showed confrontations between protesters and motorists.

In Kfar Yona, authorities restricted access to neighborhoods near Military Prison 10 after residents organized counterdemonstrations.

Mayor Albert Taieb said the measures were intended to prevent a recurrence of damage and disturbances reported during an ultra-Orthodox protest the previous week.

The dispute over military service has intensified as Israel confronts wartime manpower demands.

While military service is mandatory for most Jewish Israelis, full-time ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students have for generations received exemptions that are now facing growing legal and political challenges.