Israel Mass protest in Jerusalem against conscription - bus rolls over people
During a mass protest by thousands of ultra-Orthodox against their recruitment in Israel, a bus driver hit several participants with his vehicle, according to Israeli police. A young man was trapped under the bus and pronounced dead, according to the Magen David Adom rescue service. Several people were also injured. According to the police, the bus driver was arrested.
06.01.2026, 22:04
06.01.2026, 22:22
SDA
According to initial investigations, the incident took place outside the area designated for the protest, the police added. There was regular traffic there. Demonstrators had tried to prevent the bus driver from continuing his journey. The driver reportedly said that demonstrators had attacked him.
Haaretz: Around 15,000 demonstrators in Jerusalem
According to the Israeli newspaper "Haaretz", around 15,000 ultra-Orthodox took part in the protest. Israeli police reported that some of them had thrown objects at police officers and set fire to garbage cans. Rioters also attacked journalists, it added. Israeli police were deployed to disperse the "violent unrest".
Strictly religious men were exempt from compulsory military service in Israel for decades. However, this exemption expired around a year and a half ago. The Israeli government failed to pass a new law to cement this special status for the ultra-Orthodox.
Since then, there have been repeated protests by strictly religious Jews against their recruitment. Many ultra-Orthodox feel that military service is a threat to their pious lifestyle, partly because women and men serve together. One speaker at the demonstration compared compulsory military service to the Holocaust, according to the Times of Israel and the Israeli news website ynet.
Dispute over conscription jeopardizes Netanyahu's coalition
The army, on the other hand, has urgently warned of a drastic shortage of combat-ready soldiers due to the long Gaza war. Many Israelis also feel that it is unfair that ultra-Orthodox Jews are exempt from military service and dangerous combat missions.
The rally in Jerusalem was also directed against a new draft law that is intended to regulate the exemption of the ultra-Orthodox, but which does not go far enough for some of them.
The dispute over compulsory military service for strictly religious men is also seen as a threat to the continued existence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing religious coalition.
