Charedim continue to protest at IDF draft

STRICTLY ORTHODOX protestors clashed with police in Jerusalem throughout the week as the security services used water cannon in an attempt to disperse crowds blocking the entrances to the city.

More than thirty demonstrators were arrested on Tuesday during violent protests outside the Israel Defence Forces draft office on Rashi street. A Charedi woman was also detained. On Sunday, hundreds of young men blocked the roads and the city’s lightrail system to protest against the jailing of eleven Charedi yeshiva students for dodging the Israeli draft.

Conscription is normally compulsory for every Israeli citizen once they turn 18, except Israeli Arabs, and lasts three years for men and two for women.

The Charedim — the strictly Orthodox — are also exempted, although many secular Israelis believe that all citizens should do their share to protect the country. However, almost all Charedim are reluctant to serve for fear of the negative influences they feel army life would bring.

Many strictly Orthodox people argue that Torah learning, in which a large number of Charedi men in Israel engage, is a form of spiritual protection for the country. Secular Israelis are sceptical of such a notion.

The weekend’s demonstrations were co-ordinated by the “Jerusalem Faction”, a minority group within the strictly Orthodox world that has taken a more radical stance towards Charedi enlistment.

Its members refuse to obtain the paperwork for an exemption and are then subsequently arrested for draft dodging.

In a statement, the Faction said Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach, its leader, had ordered the demonstrations “to protest for the dignity of the Torah, which has been ground into dust by the incarceration of… prisoners of the Torah world for extended periods.

“Last week, the Charedi masses took to the streets to protest, and hundreds were arrested and four more prisoners of the Torah world were handed over to the military authorities.”

“The time has come to put an end to disrupting the lives of Jerusalem’s residents,” said Nir Barkat, the mayor of Jerusalem, in a statement.

Although he stressed that “the right to demonstrate is sacred, when it is conducted within the law,” he added: “Anyone violating the law for any reason needs to be dealt with firmly, and the police should use any means at their disposal to disperse illegal demonstrations.”

Some refuse to obtain exemption paperwork