Jerusalem – Clashes broke out between Israeli police and ultra-Orthodox Jews (Haredim) on Sunday during a demonstration in which tens of thousands of them participated in Jerusalem, rejecting attempts to recruit them into the army, according to Hebrew media.
For months, the Israeli army has been suffering from a shortage of soldiers due to its ongoing war on the Gaza Strip since October 7, its intensive operations in the occupied West Bank, and its confrontations with Hezbollah across the Lebanese border.
The Israel Broadcasting Authority (official) and the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper (private) said that violent clashes broke out in Jerusalem between the police and religious protesters, during a demonstration in which tens of thousands of them participated once morest attempts to recruit them into the army.
Protesters attacked the car of Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldinov, throwing stones at him, accusing him of collusion to recruit “Haredim.”
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled to require the state to draft Haredim into the army, a contentious issue for years.
The survival of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government depends on the support of the two religious parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism, which are the main victims of the court’s decision.
While religious parties oppose the conscription of the Haredim, secular and nationalist parties support it, which causes Netanyahu a problem that threatens his ruling coalition.
The Haredim make up regarding 13 percent of Israel’s population of regarding 9.9 million people. They do not serve in the army, and say they devote their lives to studying the Torah to preserve the identity of the Israeli people.
The law requires every Israeli man and woman over the age of 18 to serve in the military, and the exclusion of the “Haredim” from service has sparked controversy over the past decades.
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2024-07-02 23:43:53
