Israeli police, Haredi Jews clash outside military recruitment office
3 Min Read
Israeli media say the Haredim are calling the police "Nazis and filthy" and have attempted to breach police barriers to the recruitment office in occupied al-Quds.
-
Israeli Police remove ultra-Orthodox Jews blocking a road to protest against military recruitment, in Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv, on Thursday, August 1, 2024. (AP)
Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Haredi Jews demonstrated near the Israeli occupation military recruitment office on Jaffa Street in occupied al-Quds, Israeli media reported on Wednesday.
The media said the Haredim are calling the police "Nazis and filthy" and have attempted to breach police barriers to the recruitment office while blocking Jaffa Street.
The protests come against the backdrop of the Israeli High Court's ruling in favor of the mandatory conscription of Haredi Jews into the occupation military and the halt of all subsidies and funds allocated for institutions that do not comply with the ruling.
As a result, Security Minister Yoav Gallant directed the military to issue 3,000 draft orders to members of the Haredi community in three separate waves.
🚨⚡Hebrew media: Clashes between the Haredim and the police, and the Haredim describe the police as "Nazis and filthy" pic.twitter.com/0crc6UGx73
— War Analysis (@iiamguri9) August 21, 2024
For decades, ultra-Orthodox men of military age have avoided Israeli army conscription by enrolling in yeshivas for Torah study and obtaining repeated one-year service deferrals until reaching the age of exemption.
Israeli police stated that dozens of protesters engaged in rioting, blocked nearby roads, and attempted to throw public garden fences at officers.
Vídeo | Manifestantes ultraortodoxos (los haredim) irrumpen en la base militar de Tel Hoshmer en protesta por la decisión de reclutarlos#طوفان_الأقصی #رعب_الشمال pic.twitter.com/ybZwYuT6gI
— Sitio Al Manar (@SitioAlManar) August 21, 2024
The statement added that the participants repeatedly tried to breach police barriers outside the recruitment office, blocked nearby streets using fences, clashed with officers, and hurled insults at both police and border police.
The police said its officers used force to clear the demonstrators from the roads and disperse them from the area surrounding the recruitment office.
In early August, similar clashes broke out between Israeli occupation police and settlers from the Yerushalmi Haredim at the recruitment base in Tel HaShomer in the Ramat Gan area south of Tel Aviv.
This occurred after the protesters stormed the base to release the ultra-Orthodox Haredi Jews who were forcefully conscripted into the Israeli occupation forces.
During their storming of the Tel HaShomer base, they chanted anti-recruitment slogans, such as "Recruitment is worse than death."
Prominent ultra-Orthodox rabbis have urged yeshiva students to disregard any communication from the Israeli military.
Additionally, parties representing the Haredi community have intensified their threats to leave "Israel's" ruling coalition if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government does not pass legislation by the end of the Knesset’s summer session to largely exempt Haredi men from military service.
Many ultra-Orthodox Jews view military service as incompatible with their way of life and fear that enlistment could lead to secularization.
Read more: 'Israel has no right to exist', Chief Rabbis say upon Haredim draft
