Thousands of ultra-Orthodox protest against the sentence that forces them to do military service

June 30 (EUROPA PRESS) –

Thousands of ultra-Orthodox or Haredi Jews demonstrated this Sunday in Jerusalem’s Sabbat Square to protest against the recent ruling of the Israeli Supreme Court by which they would have to perform mandatory military service.

The protesters carried banners with slogans such as “We will not enlist in the enemy’s army” and “We will die without enlisting,” according to Israeli public television Walla.

Among those in attendance were members of the Jerusalem Faction, an extremist group with some 60,000 members that regularly leads protests against compulsory military service for students in Talmudic schools.

During the protest, participants surrounded the car of the leader of the United Torah Judaism party, Yitzhak Goldknopf. Israeli media claim that stones were thrown at the vehicle. The Police have intervened to evacuate him safely.

The ultra-Orthodox sector considers that military service is incompatible with their life dedicated to religious study and they fear that those who perform it will distance themselves from their traditions and beliefs.

The Supreme Court’s ruling also provides for the freezing of funding for Talmudic schools that do not comply with the enlistment regulations. The ruling also shakes up the current government coalition led by Benjamin Netanyahu, which is supported by Haredi parties.