Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews protest Israeli military service

Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jewish men, dressed in black, rallied in Jerusalem on Thursday to protest against military conscription, an issue that has caused major strain in Israel's right-wing ruling coalition.

The vast crowd was protesting against the absence of a law guaranteeing their right to avoid Israel's mandatory military service -- a pledge long promised by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Crowds of men, many wearing black hats, set fire to pieces of tarpaulin as hundreds of police officers cordoned off several roads across the city, AFP correspondents reported.

Carrying placards denouncing conscription, demonstrators marched along main roads leading into Jerusalem.

The mass demonstration follows a recent crackdown on ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers, with thousands of call-up notices sent in recent months and several deserters imprisoned.

Under a ruling established in 1948, when the ultra-Orthodox were a very small community, men who devote themselves full-time to the study of sacred Jewish texts are given a de facto pass.

This exemption has come under mounting pressure since war erupted in Gaza in October 2023, as the military struggles to fill its ranks.

Whether the exemption should be scrapped has been a long-running point of contention in Israeli society, with Netanyahu pledging that his government would pass a law enshrining the waiver.

But he has so far failed to deliver.

Responding to the call of two ultra-Orthodox parties -- one of which forms a key part of the ruling coalition -- men travelled from all over Israel on Thursday to demand the continuation of their exemptions.

The police closed roads to Jerusalem and announced the mobilisation of 2,000 officers in the city.

AFP