Tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews gathered in Jerusalem on Thursday to protest mandatory military service, intensifying pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fragile coalition.
The debate over mandatory military service, and those who are exempt from it, has long caused tensions within Israel's deeply divided society.
Packed crowds, mostly men clad in traditional black ultra-Orthodox suits and hats, clogged the roads at the main entrance to Jerusalem, paralyzing traffic. Israeli media estimated that around 200,000 people flocked to the demonstration.
"Right now, people who refuse to go to the army are taken to military prison," said Shmuel Orbach, a protester, "It's not so bad. But we are a Jewish country. You cannot fight against Judaism in a Jewish country; it does not work."
Ultra-Orthodox seminary students have long been exempt from mandatory military service. Many Israelis fume at what they see as an unfair burden carried by the mainstream who serve.
That frustration only intensified during wars over the past two years that exacted the highest Israeli military death toll in decades as its attacks stretched from the Gaza Strip to Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iran.
This has added fuel to an already explosive debate over a new conscription bill that lies at the center of a crisis rattling Netanyahu's coalition, which took power in late 2022 for a four-year term.
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish leaders say full-time devotion to the study of holy scriptures is sacrosanct and fear their young men will drift away from religious life if they are drafted into the military.
But last year, the Supreme Court ordered an end to the exemption. Parliament has been struggling to draft a new conscription bill, which has so far failed to meet both the ultra-Orthodox demands and those of a stretched military.
Two long-time loyal political allies, ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties Shas and United Torah Judaism (UTJ), quit Netanyahu's coalition government in July in a dispute over the new military draft legislation.
Their exit left Netanyahu with an increasingly splintered coalition whose far-right members are unhappy about Israel's cease-fire deal with Palestinian resistance group Hamas, brokered by the United States.
The door has been left open for the ultra-Orthodox parties to rejoin the coalition should the dispute be resolved.
But reaching an accommodation acceptable to ultra-Orthodox political leaders may alienate many other Israelis as the country heads into an election year, and risks being shot down by the Supreme Court.
