Ultra-Orthodox draft

Following hours of haredi draft protests, Israeli highways reopen to traffic

Protests cause heavy traffic on 29 major roads • Social media footage shows protesters and secular citizens in violent physical altercations • MKs Goldknopf, Malkieli attended protests

|ByALON HACHMON, AVI SOLOMON, AARON GLICK
A haredi man looks on as traffic builds at Hemed Interchange on Highway 1 amid ultra-Orthadox anti-draft protests, June 24, 2026.
Motti Babchik and thousands of Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men protest outside Military Prison 10 near Kfar Yona, central Israel, against the jailing of seminary students who failed to comply with an army recruitment order, June 17, 2026.

'Release Sohlberg's hostages': Soldiers, haredi protesters clash outside of Military Prison 10

Sohlberg has become a focal point of such protests following his order to increase arrests of draft evaders, the peak of which took place on June 3, when a haredi riot broke out outside of his home.

|ByMIRIAM SELA-EITAM
Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, during a weekly teaching at the Yazdim synagogue in Jerusalem, on June 7, 2025.

Shas spiritual leader: Iran deal is punishment for draft dodger arrests, A-G is 'wicked woman'

"Trump turned against us because of the decrees being imposed on Torah scholars and because they are being arrested,” Yosef said.

|ByKESHET NEEV
Israel Police responding to haredi (ultra-Orthodox) protest near Shabbat Square in Jerusaelm, June 19, 2026.

Ultra-Orthodox protesters block traffic, set fire on road near Jerusalem's Shabbat Square

On Thursday evening, light rail service was partially suspended between Jerusalem’s central bus station and Mount Herzl station due to haredi protests.

|ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF

Attorney-General to High Court: Gov’t violating draft ruling, risking rule of law

Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara warns the Israeli government of violating a High Court ruling on military conscription, stressing the risk to Israel's democracy and security.

JANUARY 12, 2026BySARAH BEN-NUN
Israeli attorney general Gali Baharav Miara attends a Constitution, Law and Justice Committee leads a committee meeting in the Israeli Parliament in Jerusalem, on April 27, 2025.

IDF cancels ultra-Orthodox Hashmonaim Brigade event for parents in Bnei Brak after haredi riot

The event was interrupted by a group of several dozen haredi extremists associated with the Jerusalem faction, who tried to break into the compound where the event was being held.

JANUARY 12, 2026ByHODIA RAN
HAREDIM SCUFFLE with police outside Jerusalem’s IDF Recruitment Center, Nov. 12.

Bus driver rams into ultra-Orthodox protesters in Jerusalem, 14-year-old killed

Thousands of haredi (ultra-Orthodox) protesters gathered in Israel's capital on Tuesday evening • Driver arrested after killing one, injuring three others • Shas: "Haredi blood is not cheap."

JANUARY 6, 2026ByMIRIAM SELA-EITAM, TOBIAS HOLCMAN
Security and rescue forces are seen at the scene where a teenager was killed and three others were injured after being hit by a bus in Jerusalem, January 6, 2026

Between ultra-Orthodox draft and Knesset coalition, Israel's democracy is too complicated - opinion

The composition of our fragile coalition in the Knesset, mirrored in the cabinet, makes governing our already volatile population factions extremely difficult.

DECEMBER 27, 2025ByWALTER BINGHAM
Protests against haredi draft begins in Jerusalem, October 30, 2025.