Haredim protest against the draft on Highway 4
(Photo: Yaron Brenner)
At the start of the protest, police set a deadline for the demonstrators, warning that arrests would begin if the road was not cleared. But even after the deadline passed, the protest continued. Some demonstrators waved black flags, and signs read: “Prisoners of the Torah world, we are with you.” During the demonstration, one protester sprayed fire extinguisher foam onto the road from a nearby bridge and, at one point, the demonstrators began running south. Police clashed with several of them, who blocked the Givat Shmuel junction, and detained one protester.
The Bnei Brak demonstration was organized by followers of Rabbi Zvi Feldman. Police preemptively blocked the road after gradually reducing traffic in the area. Some protesters sat down on the road, and one shouted: “Let us live like Jews.” Another ultra-Orthodox protest against the draft and the arrest of draft evaders is scheduled to take place Tuesday evening outside Prison 10 at the Beit Lid base. The ultra-Orthodox press has called for a “day of work stoppage” and prayers on Thursday against “the draft decree and persecution of religion.”
He added that: “Those who study God’s Torah and follow its path are the true representatives of Judaism. We declare publicly and to the world: it is inconceivable that a Jew should be imprisoned for engaging in Torah study. The Torah protects the Jewish settlement, and only Torah and its study provide Jews the right to exist in the Land of Israel. Without Torah, Jews have no right to live in Israel, and anyone who fights against Torah and its learners is fighting against the safety of Jews in the Land of Israel.”
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Daily demonstrations have taken place outside Prison 10, where some draft dodgers have been taken
(Photo: Motti Kimchi)
A few days earlier, hundreds of extremist ultra-Orthodox demonstrators blocked entrances to Jerusalem and Bnei Brak, the Shilat Junction, and a road in Beit Shemesh, protesting the arrests of three draft evaders. Heavy traffic was reported at all sites, and some demonstrations were declared illegal. Protesters chanted: “We will die before we enlist” and “To prison, not the army,” and were filmed smashing car windows. Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, police were recorded stepping on the heads of demonstrators.
