Haredi protesters clash with Israel police over arrests of draft-refusers
Police shut down sections of central Israel’s Route 4 in both directions near Bnei Brak on Wednesday morning after dozens of Orthodox (Haredi) protesters blocked the highway during rush hour in a demonstration against the arrest of Haredi men accused of avoiding military service.
Orthodox (Haredi) demonstrators protesting the arrest of draft-refusers block traffic at a junction in Bnei Brak on June 17, 2026. Photo by Eitan Elhadez-Barak/TPS-IL
The protesters, identified as activists from the Jerusalem Faction, gathered near the Bnei Brak area and attempted to block traffic lanes. Police declared the demonstration illegal after protesters disrupted traffic and worked to clear the road.
Following the protest, Route 4 was closed in both directions between the Am Moshavot Interchange and the Aluf Sade Interchange. Police directed motorists to alternate routes due to heavy congestion in the area.
Clashes broke out between protesters and police, with officers using stun grenades to disperse demonstrators from the roadway. One protester was arrested at the scene.
Gur Hasidim stage a protest against the draft outside of the Beit Lid military base in central Israel. Beit Lid, June 17, 2026. Credit: Gideon Markowicz/TPS-IL
A second demonstration is expected later Wednesday outside Beit Lid military prison, where additional protests are planned against the detention of Haredi draft evaders.
Shas party chairman Rabbi Aryeh Deri criticised the police response. “You know that we oppose demonstrations, but we cannot stand idly by in the face of this injustice and severe violence. You have proven that when it is important to you, you know how to use the police. Stand up now and stop the police’s violence against the people of Torah.”
Opposition leader Yair Lapid responded by criticising the government’s handling of the issue, writing: “Aryeh Deri sits in the cabinet and sends our children to fight and die for the country — and then he goes out and sends his children to block roads against conscription into the IDF.”
The demonstrations follow reports that senior members of the Degel HaTorah faction of the United Torah Judaism party were preparing a major protest campaign, including large convoys travelling toward a military prison to protest the arrests.
The protests come amid growing tensions over the issue of Haredi enlistment into the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).
Four Haredi men were indicted Sunday over their alleged role in a violent riot outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg earlier this month. Rioters smashed windows, damaged a vehicle belonging to the judge’s wife, threw stones, and blocked access roads. They also attempted to break into the home and distribute pamphlets bearing the judge’s image and slogans accusing him of “persecution of Haredi Judaism.”
The governing coalition has been strained by its failure to pass legislation addressing conscription exemptions for Haredi yeshiva students.
An estimated 80,000 Haredi men eligible for military service have not enlisted. Coalition leaders dependent on Haredi political support have repeatedly struggled to find a compromise acceptable to both the Haredi leadership and to Israelis demanding equal military service obligations.
The military has begun preparations to conscript yeshiva students after Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled in 2024 that exemptions for the Haredi community were illegal.
Military service is compulsory for most Israeli citizens. However, Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, and the country’s leading rabbis reached an informal “status quo” arrangement that deferred military service for Haredi men studying in yeshivot, or religious institutions. At the time, no more than several hundred men were studying in yeshivot.
