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Protests over military conscription highlight the rising tensions surrounding a court order overturning a decades-long exemption for the religious community.
Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Israeli men protested outside a conscription center in Jerusalem on Wednesday and clashed with police officers amid rising national tensions about a court decision ordering a draft for the insular community.
Israel’s military began sending conscription orders last month to ultra-Orthodox men aged 18 to 26 after the Supreme Court in June ordered an end to exemptions that had been in place for decades. Military service is mandatory for most Israelis over 18, with some exceptions, such as for most Arab citizens. Before the ruling, over 60,000 ultra-Orthodox religious students of draft age were also formally exempt from service.
At the protest on Wednesday, ultra-Orthodox demonstrators, many of whom appeared to be of draft age, scuffled with officers and also with counterprotesters who want the military to push forward with the draft to end what they see as an unequal sharing of the burden at a time of war and rising regional tensions.
The Israeli police said that they had sent reinforcements to try to maintain order, and Israeli news media reported that officers had sealed off several streets, used water canons to disperse crowds and beaten some protesters with batons. When asked about the response, the police said in a statement that officers had been “forced to act using various means” as protests continued and demonstrators broke through a blockade, with some protesters throwing water bottles. Five people were arrested, the police statement added.
The protest highlights the increased friction between Israel’s mainstream secular society and the ultra-Orthodox, the fastest-growing part of the population.
Some ultra-Orthodox Israelis do not fully recognize the state of Israel, rejecting secular Jewish sovereignty and military service. Many ultra-Orthodox see full-time Torah study as crucial, arguing that this scholarship is what has ensured the survival of Jews for centuries.
