Haredi protesters clash with Israeli police over draft evader arrest

Jerusalem clashes

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish protesters clashed with Israeli police in Jerusalem late Sunday over the arrest of a draft evader, with officers deploying stun grenades and water cannons to disperse around 200 demonstrators who blocked light rail tracks on Shivtei Yisrael Street, according to Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth daily. Security forces reopened Haim Bar-Lev Road following the operation, Channel 12 reported, broadcasting footage of officers using crowd control measures against the protesters.

Conscription tensions

Earlier on Sunday, similar demonstrations erupted near a military recruitment center outside Tel Aviv, where ultra-Orthodox protesters blocked roads and scuffled with police over the enlistment of religious seminary students. Military service remains a deeply divisive issue among Haredim, many of whom oppose conscription and demand exemptions for those studying in religious institutions, while political parties and soldiers' families press to end the special treatment, according to local media reports.

Political deadlock

The conscription dispute has intensified since courts struck down the legal basis for blanket exemptions, prompting authorities to resume pursuing men wanted for service. The issue now poses a key obstacle to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's efforts to form a government following the Oct. 27 parliamentary election, when his bloc secured 53 seats against 48 for the opposition and 19 for Arab parties — falling short of the 61-seat majority required to rule.