Haredi protesters block highway, clash with police after suspected draft dodgers arrested

Dozens of ultra-Orthodox anti-draft demonstrators clashed with police and blocked the Route 4 highway near the Haredi city of Bnei Brak on Monday to protest the arrest of two suspected draft evaders the previous night.

Footage from the protest declared illegal by police showed a crowd of young men sitting in front of cars on the highway as a police officer yelled at them through a megaphone, demanding they clear the road.

Haredi street protests over military conscription have increased in frequency, during a national debate over whether and how to draft ultra-Orthodox men.

Monday saw lawmakers vote to advance a Haredi-backed bill banning the use of a putrid spray often employed to disperse such protests. And Opposition Leader Yair Lapid decried an effort to financially support those jailed for draft evasion.

After a 2024 High Court decision struck down sweeping exemptions from conscription for Haredi men, the military began sending those men draft notices and, more recently, arresting some who did not obey the notices. Military police attempting to arrest draft evaders have at times encountered street demonstrations.

Protests have also coalesced over a bill in the Knesset that would enshrine draft exemptions for most yeshiva students — but which many Haredim believe does not go far enough, and whose future is uncertain. And protesters have gathered at IDF induction centers where Haredi men are enlisting.

The protests frequently see young men block roads and surround buses. Last month, a teenage boy was killed after a bus drove into a crowd at a Haredi anti-draft protest.

At Monday’s protest near Tel Aviv, Border Police were also deployed to the scene. Officers directed drivers to alternate routes while the highway was blocked.

The Jerusalem Faction, a hardline ultra-Orthodox group known for organizing stormy demonstrations against Haredi conscription, announced that a similar protest was set to take place in the south.

In addition to staging protests, the group, whose membership numbers some 60,000, has provided cash and other types of support to Haredi men jailed for draft evasion. The Satmar Hasidic sect has also given payments to draft dodgers.

The funding came from Notnim Gav, Hebrew for “Got your back,” which is affiliated with the Jerusalem Faction. Notnim Gav also runs anti-enlistment hotlines in English and Hebrew, regular protests outside enlistment centers, and even a raffle for yeshiva students who refuse conscription orders. (Another organization affiliated with the Jerusalem Faction runs a “national alert system” to mobilize the community when the IDF engages in enforcement activities against Haredi draft dodgers.)

Responding on Monday to a report from The Times of Israel on the payments to draft evaders, Lapid called for cuts to budgets intended for Haredim until the community’s young men begin serving in the IDF.

“In the end, you know what’s most infuriating about what you described?” he said. “It’s coming from Israeli taxpayers’ money. That’s where it’s coming from. It’s the NIS 60 billion that Israeli citizens pay every year to draft dodgers. We need to say: ‘You won’t receive a single penny if you don’t enlist in the IDF,’ and then they won’t have the money to give to deserters.”

Also on Monday, lawmakers on the Knesset National Security Committee voted to advance a bill banning the use of  “skunk” spray on protesters to the second and third readings needed to pass it into law.

The legislation, sponsored by United Torah Judaism MKs Moshe Gafni and Yaakov Asher, is intended to ensure that police water cannons used to disperse demonstrations will only fire clean water without the addition of any substance, including those containing color and odor.

Sprayed out of a high-pressure water cannon truck, the putrid liquid is often used on Haredi anti-draft demonstrators and Palestinians in the West Bank, but has also been rolled out against anti-government protesters in recent years.

The makeup of the substance is shrouded in mystery, and relevant authorities have declined to disclose its exact ingredients. Some of those who were sprayed with the substance reported skin irritation, shortness of breath, and headaches.

The bill, which is supported by both coalition and opposition lawmakers, stipulates that police take video of the use of such cannons and save it for three years, providing it upon request to anyone who claims to have been injured by them. Law enforcement, however, would be allowed to request a court order to withhold such documentation if its release would harm an ongoing investigation or public safety.

The bill has support beyond the Haredi community. Hadash-Ta’al MK Ahmad Tibi celebrated its advancement, calling it “an important bill for both citizens and police officers.”