The Haredim have continued their protests against military conscription following the Supreme Court’s decision on June 25, 2024, which requires them to serve in the army.
An Israeli youth was killed and three others injured when a bus ploughed into scores of ultra-Orthodox Jews (Haredi) protesting against military conscription in Jerusalem on Tuesday night.
Tens of thousands of Haredi protesters earlier blocked roads in the city during the rally, which was called for by several leading rabbis, including Moshe Tsedaka, head of the Porat Yosef Yeshiva and one of the most prominent voices opposing conscription, according to Al-Jazeera Arabic.
A bus drove into a crowd, killing a teenager and injuring at least three people, during a mass ultra-Orthodox Jewish rally against military conscription in Jerusalem on Tuesday.
The Israeli police said they detained the driver and are investigating pic.twitter.com/HoPGm0eh5N
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The Times of Israel stated that the rally began “with fiery speeches and descended into chaos as the evening wore on, with protesters setting several fires” in the middle of the road.
Protesters Surrounded Bus
Israeli police said an initial investigation found that the bus driver “was attacked by rioters who were blocking the roads” before the incident, the Times of Israel reported. The report cited Hebrew media outlets as having reported that the driver had called the police’s emergency hotline to request help “as protesters gathered around” the bus, “accosting him and preventing him from driving.” The paper cited a video published by Israeli Channel 14 as having corroborated this.
One person was killed and several others were injured after being run over by a bus in Jerusalem , during protests by Haredi religious groups against conscription. pic.twitter.com/J7SKw6nSfe
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The Israeli Ynet News website reported that “the youths blocked the bus and attacked the driver.” It added that the driver “began to drive, with two teenagers clinging to the vehicle — one of them the 14-year-old who was killed, and another who was injured.”
Video footage showed the youth getting dragged underneath the bus for several meters.
The driver was arrested for the incident, which police said “occurred after he was attacked by rioters in an area outside the zone approved for the protest,” the Ynet report stated.
Thousands of Haredi Jews rallied in the occupied city of Al Quds, protesting the Israeli regime’s compulsory military conscription policy.
Follow: https://t.co/U3DDExuMf0 pic.twitter.com/Po5dpYGuDA
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A witness told Ynet that the protesters had “stopped the driver and spat at him. He saw he had no way out, drove into the Haredim and ran them over. I was thrown aside.”
The witness added that the driver continued down “another street, ran over more people there, then went down another street and ran people over again, and there was a child stuck there.”
Organizers of the rally, however, claimed that the protest was peaceful and rejected claims that protesters had attacked the bus driver, the report stated.
Ongoing Protests
The Haredim have continued their protests against military conscription following the Supreme Court’s decision on June 25, 2024, which requires them to serve and to prohibit financial aid to religious institutions whose students refuse to serve in the military, according to Al-Jazeera Arabic.
Netanyahu Battles Coalition Crisis amid Haredim Draft Dispute – Report
It noted that these developments come as the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee continues to discuss the draft conscription bill proposed by committee chairman Boaz Bismuth of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party.
The bill stipulates that full-time yeshiva (religious studies) students who do not pursue other professions can be granted annual deferments from military service. It also removes several clauses from a previous version that aimed to ensure the commitment of yeshiva students to actual study, the report stated, citing the Times of Israel.
Internal Threats
Haredi parties are threatening to withhold their support for the state budget if the draft exemption law is not passed, the Al-Jazeera Arabic report noted. The Shas and United Torah Judaism parties have previously threatened to bring down the government if the draft law is not passed, potentially leading to early elections.
Ten Israeli Police Officers Injured in Jerusalem Unrest over Haredi Draft Exemptions
The current Knesset’s term is not set to expire in October 2026. Haredim constitute approximately 13 percent of Israel’s population of 10 million and refuse military service, claiming they dedicate their lives to Torah study. They maintain that integration into secular society threatens their religious identity and the continuity of their community, the report stated.
(PC, AJA)
