Ultra-Orthodox activists protested outside the Tel Hashomer recruiting office on Monday to denounce the IDF’s attempts to draft haredim.
Video footage seen by The Jerusalem Post shows protesters sitting on the road and blocking vehicles, before being forcefully cleared by police officers.
Police called the protest “illegal” while commenting that they “view the right to protest as a cornerstone of a democratic state and allow demonstrations as long as they are conducted within the law.”
“However, the police will not allow any disturbances of public order, violations of freedom of movement, or behavior that may endanger public safety,” they added.
The IDF was holding a designated haredi day at Tel Hashomer to draft two companies to the Hashmonaim Brigade.
One of the companies will be for regular service soldiers, and the other will be made up of reservists.
The military said this enlistment is intended to support haredim in various tracks that are open to them and to allow them to maintain their haredi lifestyle while performing military service.
The framework will offer a meaningful military service uniquely combined with religious studies, providing the soldiers with the opportunity to defend Israel while maintaining their religious commitment, the military added.
Religious Zionist Party’s Zvi Sukkot attended in support of the haredi draft, stating, “They came to enlist and give their lives, and there are people here to humiliate and curse them.
מי שהגיע לבקו"ם ללוות את המתגייסים החרדים אל מול המפגינים שמנסים לחסום אותם ולמנוע את גיוסם - ח"כ צבי סוכות מהציונות הדתית@tzvisuccot pic.twitter.com/055yHvOvWe
— שילה פריד (@shilofreid) April 28, 2025
“I stand here on behalf of the majority of the Jewish people in the face of the disgrace that they are facing here. Shame!” Sukkot added.
While approximately 10,000 draft orders were sent out over the past two months, only 994 haredim showed up at the draft office. There are 2,491 under an arrest warrant for draft-dodging, and have been placed under a travel ban preventing them from leaving the country, KAN reported Monday.
However, these numbers are an improvement from the preceding three months, in which 367 haredim showed up at the draft office after 7,014 orders were sent out, while 2,473 arrest warrants and 446 travel bans were issued.
“I would be happy if there was support from the other side [the wider haredi community], but, unfortunately, we have yet to see any change,” IDF Personnel Planning Branch head Brig.-Gen. Shay Taib told Army Radio. “We proposed imposing sanctions that affect the individual draft dodgers in their daily lives.”
High Court demands explanation on draft dodgers
On Sunday, it was announced that the government and the army have until June 24 to explain to the High Court of Justice why more draft orders have not gone out to eligible haredim, and why sanctions have not been imposed on those dodging the draft.
The conditional order issued by the HCJ comes amid a war with no end in sight and troops, especially reservists, who are worn and exhausted by a year and a half of war, for which they have both put their lives on hold and risk them.
The government’s goal is to have 4,800 haredi draftees a year, which will exponentially rise over the next few years.
The army must create new frameworks for haredi soldiers within the air force, the Intelligence Corps, and in the field. The responsibility is on the army to create the framework and on the haredi community to provide the troops.
Sarah Ben-Nun contributed to this report.