At least eight ultra-Orthodox Jews have been arrested during the second day of protests against compulsory military service outside the military recruitment centre in Tel Hashomeron the outskirts of Tel Avivafter the Army began sending warnings to hundreds of young people.
According to the Israeli newspaper Maariv, several hundred Haredim (the Hebrew term for ultra-Orthodox) threw bottles at mounted police, who set up barriers and parked trucks to block a secondary entrance to the centre.
Some 500 ultra-religious young men were ordered to report to the recruitment office today (and another 600 yesterday), after a decision by the Israeli Supreme Court struck down the exemption that has kept them out of the army for decades.
Only a few dozen recruits arrived at the center today, according to the Hebrew press, while hundreds of ultra-Orthodox of all ages gathered at the gates for the second day in a row to protest. According to the Israeli media Times of IsraelToday’s demonstration has been declared illegal by the authorities.
According to estimates by Israeli media outlet Walla, only a third of those called up will end up serving in the armed forces, as the spiritual leaders of religious communities themselves have called for ignoring the recruitment orders.
A temporary rule allowing Haredim, who have avoided compulsory service since the founding of the State of Israel, to continue to be exempt from military service expired in early April, and numerous civil society groups have called for an end to the privileges of the ultra-Orthodox, who make up around 13% of the Israeli population.
After months of controversy over whether the measure would continue in force or not, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that “there is no legal basis for excluding ultra-Orthodox men from conscription” and that if they do not serve in the army, they should not receive publicly funded educational and social assistance grants.
After the war in Gaza will lead to the mass mobilization of some 300,000 reservists, including for battalions both on the northern border with Lebanon and in the occupied territory of West Bankmany Israelis are calling on the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahuthat all young people fulfill their military duty.
Now, the 67,000 eligible Haredi men (the equivalent of five military divisions) face their gradual entry into the armed forces. EFE (I)
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