JERUSALEM — Dozens of ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked roads in Jerusalem on Sunday during protests against compulsory military service, with Israeli police saying the demonstration escalated into a riot after participants refused orders to disperse, according to Israeli media.Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu reportedly declared that Israelis who neither study the Torah nor serve in the army would face imprisonment under a future conscription law.The demonstrations, which disrupted traffic across parts of the city, came amid a heavy police deployment and highlighted the growing political and social tensions surrounding the long-running dispute over military exemptions for the ultra-Orthodox community.The protests took place amid a heavy deployment of Israeli police across the city, the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported.Israel’s Channel 12, citing police, said demonstrators ignored repeated calls by an officer to clear the area, prompting police to intervene.Separately, Israel’s Channel 7 quoted Netanyahu as saying in a closed-door meeting that anyone who neither studies the Torah nor serves in the military “will go to prison.”According to the broadcaster, Netanyahu said legislation suspending the arrest of draft evaders had failed to increase enlistment among ultra-Orthodox Jews.He added that after the elections, new legislation would be introduced to meet the Israeli army’s manpower needs.The remarks immediately drew criticism from opposition leaders, who accused Netanyahu of reversing his position after recently backing legislation preventing the arrest and prosecution of ultra-Orthodox draft evaders.Former prime minister Naftali Bennett dismissed the comments as “pathetic spin,” accusing Netanyahu of having spent years obstructing meaningful ultra-Orthodox recruitment while ignoring repeated warnings from military commanders over growing personnel shortages.Other opposition figures, including former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, Democrats leader Yair Golan and Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman, also accused Netanyahu of attempting to distance himself from legislation his coalition had championed only weeks earlier.The protests came days after Israeli police arrested 63 ultra-Orthodox Jews during similar demonstrations in Jerusalem, according to Yedioth Ahronoth.The dispute over military service has intensified since Israel’s Supreme Court ruled in June 2024 that ultra-Orthodox Jewish men are subject to compulsory military service and ordered the suspension of state funding for religious institutions whose students refuse to enlist.Ultra-Orthodox Jews account for around 13% of Israel’s population of more than 10 million. Most oppose compulsory military service, arguing that full-time Torah study should take precedence and that military service threatens their religious way of life.
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