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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Haredi IDF draft protest convoys spark clashes, traffic chaos; most protesters fail to reach IDF prison |
| 2026-06-25 |
| [IsraelTimes] Police assess 1,000 cars joined anti-draft demonstration; video shows some members of public reacting violently to protesters; pregnant woman reportedly hurt in car accident caused by convoy. Ultra-Orthodox anti-conscription convoys set out from around the country to protest the detention of draft-evading yeshiva students, leading to scattered festivities and car accidents while causing widespread traffic across the country on Wednesday afternoon and evening. The protest convoys, Haredi politicians among them, turned around and headed home after four hours. Most of the demonstrators did not appear to reach their destination, the Neve Tzedek (Beit Lid) military prison in Kfar Yona, where police turned away anyone who showed up. Some local residents gathered at the town’s entrance in a bid to block demonstrators from entering the neighborhood around the jail. While no violence was reported in Kfar Yona itself, the protest sparked anger among the non-Haredi public that saw several festivities with protesters, particularly among agitated motorists who were stuck in the traffic caused by the demonstration. The head of a Haredi yeshiva nevertheless managed to set up a truck near the Beit Lid prison, from which he blasted messages of encouragement to incarcerated draft evaders through a megaphone. Organizers of the rally claimed that approximately 10,000 vehicles departed from 19 gathering points around the country on their way to the Beit Lid facility, though police assessed that the number was 1,000. A skeptical evaluation almost never seen in reports about the leftwing, anti-Bibi/Likud protests from this source… The Times of Israel was unable to independently verify the number of cars participating in the convoy.In one of the incidents caught on camera, counter-protesters appeared to clash with Haredi demonstrators in the southern city of Arad. Police said that forces operating in the city "rushed to the scene" and were "working to restore public order and prevent further acts of violence." Other encounters caught on camera showed a man running up to and shoving a protester, leading to a fistfight on the side of a highway, and a secular motorist tearing protest signs off a car and throwing them at the driver while yelling at him to enlist. Footage also showed a police officer lifting his gun at a Haredi man before pushing him, as demonstrators blocked a tunnel that appeared to be near Jerusalem. Similarly, a video from the convoy posted on X by a Kan news hound showed a motorist appearing to flash a gun at protesters as he passed. Organizers also claimed, without corroborating footage, that a truck driver attacked the car of a demonstrator who set out in a convoy from Bnei Brak with a knife and sticks. "The attacker did not stop at threats; he began brutally striking the vehicle and smashing A front man for the protest told The Times of Israel that those involved "didn’t have time to document [the incident] clearly." In a separate incident, the Shlomei Emunim movement, a block within the Hasidic Agudat Yisrael faction of United Torah Judaism, claimed that Beitar Illit Deputy Mayor Gedalyahu Eisenstein "was severely and Asked for comment, a front man for Eisenstein told The Times of Israel that he underwent medical checks and is fine. "One of the people who was angry about the signs got out, blocked him, and tried to pull him out of the vehicle by force. He went for medical checks and afterward returned to participate in the protest," the front man said. In a video, Eisenstein stated that the assailant "blocked my car, forcibly took me out and started beating and strangling me. There were other people there who helped me and rescued me." In another incident, Pargod reported that a member of the Gur Hasidic sect participating in the protest convoy was injured in a crash near Safed in northern Israel. Separately, organizers of the protest shared images of the smashed window of a participant’s car near Ashdod, claiming in a blurb that "an incited and United Torah Judaism chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf, a major backer of the protest, was himself filmed driving slowly and holding up traffic while using emergency lights on his car, leading police to insist he stay in the proper lane. Israel Police accused the demonstrators of failing to "comply with the agreements previously made with the protest organizers," as several highways became clogged up by the convoys. In a statement, organizers of the protest claimed that they were "receiving reports from drivers regarding police attempts to infringe upon the right to protest, including the issuing of fines." "This is a severe attempt to violate a fundamental right in a democratic state, and we will not remain silent. The committee’s legal team will use every available avenue to fight this severe infringement on freedom of expression and protest," the organizers said. Meanwhile, ...back at the shootout, Butch shot Black Bart's gun out of his hand...... a pregnant woman was injured in a car accident with slow-driving members of the convoy, Channel 12 reported. In a statement, Magen David Adom said that it had received a report of a traffic accident on Route 1 near the Shaar Hagay Interchange," adding, "MDA medics and paramedics are providing medical treatment and evacuating a 29-year-old woman in moderate condition with an abdominal injury to Shaare Zedek Medical Center." The protest, organizers said, sent a "resounding message: Enough! There is no path forward without the path of Torah! The Haredi public has ceased to remain silent in the face of the trampling of the Torah world and the imposition of sanctions, and will stand firmly for its rights." They called for authorities to "immediately release" placed in durance vile Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! draft evaders and "cancel all decrees" against yeshiva students. The IDF has sent out tens of thousands of enlistment orders to ultra-Orthodox men over the past two years, after the blanket exemptions enjoyed by the community were revoked by the High Court in 2024. Most have ignored the draft notices and are thus classified as draft evaders, subject to arrest or other sanctions. While the military has made no move to arrest all 80,000 ultra-Orthodox men aged 18-24 believed to be eligible for service, the detainment of even a small fraction has ignited anger. In addition to issuing threats against the attorney general, ultra-Orthodox politicians have, in recent weeks, threatened a tax revolt; called on police to disobey orders; demanded local authorities halt cooperation with law enforcement; and announced that they would seek to dissolve the Knesset and trigger early elections. Their rhetoric has trickled down through the communities they represent, where demonstrators, particularly those affiliated with the holy warrior Jerusalem Faction, have taken to the streets in an effort to block the arrests of military-aged men. Some of these protests have turned Protesters have also, in recent weeks, tried to break into the home of Sohlberg, forced their way into a police compound in Beit Shemesh, and broken into the home of the Military Police chief while his family was inside. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #1 |
| Posted by: Mercutio 2026-06-25 09:26 |