Israel’s ultra-Orthodox demonstrate over military service

Ultra-Orthodox Israelis took to the streets of Jerusalem on October 30th, calling for a law which protects their right to be waived from compulsory military service, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long vowed to address, according to France 24 via AFP.

Pieces of tarpaulin had been set alight, as police officers blocked a number of roads, according to AFP correspondents. 

The top of buildings, petrol stations, bridges and balconies were filled with protestors, with some carrying signs which said: “Better to go to prison than to the army.”

Declining to disclose his full name, 27-year-old Abraham who studies in “yeshiva,” which is a Jerusalem religious seminary, said the demonstration intended to protect a way of life which commits to the Torah, the holy text of Judaism. 

Abraham said to AFP: “We don’t go to the army not because we are selfish, but because we try to preserve ourselves, what the Torah tells us and the rabbis tell us.”

In reference to the hostages kidnapped during Hamas’s October 7th 2023 attack on Israel which prompted the Gaza conflict, Abraham said: “There were hostages, and we mourned their deaths, we prayed for them three times a day, and for the soldiers.”

A man fell from a height during the demonstration, according to Israel’s police. He was later confirmed to be dead by medical staff. 

Arik, who only disclosed his first name, said: “We feel that a decree from above has been placed upon us: such severe persecution of the world of Torah and its scholars.”

According to the police, 2,000 officers were mobilised in Jerusalem. Police officers later attempted to break up the crowds of protesters. 

The protest comes after a clampdown on ultra-Orthodox Jews that have avoided military service. Thousands of notices to call people up for service have been met with no response, while military deserters have been jailed. 

At the time of the Israeli state being formed in 1948 a ruling had been made. The ruling stipulated that men who are committed to full-time study of Jewish texts are permitted to not serve in the army. 

But with Israel’s military seeing a shortfall in soldiers, the idea of exempting the ultra-Orthodox from military service has been reconsidered. 

What’s more, Israel was considering introducing a system to enlist young Jews from outside of the country, in order to address the shortfall in its military, the Middle East Eye and agencies reported on August 18th. Reportedly, the military was facing a shortage of 10,000 to 12,000 fighters.

Israel’s supreme court, in June last year, ruled that the country needs to draft ultra-Orthodox males, announcing that their waiver was no longer valid.

A parliamentary committee is currently in talks over a bill which is anticipated to halt the exemptions and prompt young males who are ultra-Orthodox and not doing full-time studies to do military service. 

Resident of Beit Shemesh, Rabbi Avraham Bismut said to AFP: “The Israeli government, the supreme court and the attorney general have turned against them and want to put them in prison — but it will not happen.”

But whether the waiver should be discontinued has been an ongoing controversial topic amongst Israelis, with Netanyahu vowing that his country would bring a law into effect which will uphold the exemption.

Avigdor Liberman, who is a member of the Knesset and an opposition figure, condemned the unrest, claiming it was a “spit in the face of our heroic soldiers!”

Israel’s ruling coalition has faced tensions over the issue of military service, with the ultra-Orthodox Shas party’s ministers having left the cabinet due to the matter. 

There are concerns amongst some ultra-Orthodox rabbis that military service will cause young people to be less committed to their faith. In Israel, 14% of the country’s Jews are ultra-Orthodox. Approximately 66,000 males within the age group deemed fit for military service, are presently exempt from the service. 

On October 22nd, protests had also reportedly taken place across Israel over the Israeli government’s arrest of military service evaders as well as the country’s mandatory military draft policy, according to Anadolu Agency. 

Citing Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, Anadolu reported that protestors in Bnei Brak had chanted that being in the Israeli army is “worse than death,” adding: “We’ll go to prison, not to the army.”

Israeli attacks on Gaza have prompted the international community to increasingly scrutinise the Israeli military. The New Arab plus agencies reported on January 29th that New Zealand has introduced a new rule for Israeli visa applicants, in which they must disclose details of their military draft, in a bid to investigate any possible involvement in war crimes and wider human rights abuses. 

France 24 via AFP, Maghrebi.org, Middle East Eye and agencies, Anadolu Agency via Yedioth Ahronoth, The New Arab plus agencies