Teen killed in fall at Jerusalem construction site during draft protest
A 15-year-old boy was killed Thursday afternoon after falling from a height of about 100 meters at a construction site at the entrance to Jerusalem during an Orthodox Jewish demonstration against drafting yeshiva students into the army.
Orthodox Jews gather in Jerusalem to demonstrate for army deferrals for yeshiva students on Oct. 30, 2025. One million people are expected to turn out. Photo by Yoav Dudkevitch/TPS-IL
Magen David Adom (MDA) paramedics found the teen unconscious and without signs of life, suffering from multiple severe injuries. “He was lying at the foot of a high-rise construction site, without a pulse and not breathing,” said MDA paramedic Yishi Shemesh and emergency medical technician Daniel Eliyakim. “We performed medical examinations, but his injury was critical, and unfortunately we had no choice but to declare him dead.”
Police have opened an investigation.
One million people are expected to demonstrate for army deferrals for yeshiva students.
The Israel Defence Forces began making plans to draft yeshiva students after Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled in 2024 that exemptions for the Haredi community were illegal.
Haredi Orthodox men in Israel are generally exempt from mandatory military service if they study full-time in religious seminaries, known as yeshivot. The issue has long divided Israeli society and remains politically sensitive, especially during wartime. Shas and UTJ insist on preserving these exemptions as a matter of religious principle and community identity.
However, public opposition has grown. After two years of war, many Israelis view the policy as unequal.
Military service is compulsory for all Israeli citizens. However, Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, and the country’s leading rabbis agreed to a status quo 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.
The Orthodox community has grown significantly since Israel’s founding. In January 2023, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported that Haredim are Israel’s fastest-growing community and projected that it would constitute 16% of the population by the end of the decade. According to the Israel Democracy Institute, the number of yeshiva students exceeded 138,000 in 2021.
