Haredi anti-draft protesters block entrance to Jerusalem, are dispersed after 2 hours

Day after members of extremist Jerusalem Faction breached home of IDF officer, hundreds of ultra-Orthodox protesters block cars, resist police in opposition to arrest of draft evaders

Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox protesters from the extremist Jerusalem Faction group blocked the main entrance into Jerusalem on Wednesday afternoon, obstructing traffic for several hours while resisting police efforts to disperse the crowd.

The Jerusalem protest came a day after Haredi demonstrators belonging to the same group breached the home of the head of the IDF’s Military Police in Ashkelon and blocked Route 4 near the central city of Bnei Brak.

On Wednesday, several hundred demonstrators, mostly young Haredi men, gathered at the entrance to the capital in protest of the arrest of yeshiva students who have evaded military conscription.

Footage from the beginning of the protest showed young Haredi men flooding into the area, blocking cars and chanting: “We will die and not enlist,” a common Haredi anti-conscription chant.

According to reports in Hebrew media, several cars tried to breach the roadblock, with at least one hitting a protester, though no injuries were reported.

The Ynet news site said that there was initially a very small police presence in the area, despite the large size of the demonstration.

After over two hours, police were able to disperse the protest, in part by using water cannons.

During Tuesday’s protests, demonstrators affiliated with the Jerusalem Faction breached the home of Military Police commander Brig. Gen. Yuval Yamin’s home “while his family was inside,” the IDF said.

Police later announced that 25 suspects, among them minors, were arrested. On Wednesday, the Ashkelon Magistrate’s Court ordered that 10 of the detained suspects would be kept in custody.

The suspects face charges of assaulting a police officer, malicious damage to property, criminal trespass and unlawful assembly.

The Jerusalem Faction is an extremist ultra-Orthodox group numbering some 60,000 members. It regularly demonstrates raucously against the military enlistment of yeshiva students.

It operates a hotline to mobilize protesters against the arrest of draft dodgers and has been involved in paying financial rewards to draft evaders.

Sam Sokol contributed to this report.