Several thousand ultra-Orthodox Jews gathered in Jerusalem on Tuesday evening for a rally honoring Haredi men who had been jailed for failing to report for military service, the second such event in three days amid an escalating dispute over military conscription.
Organizers estimated that several thousand people attended the gathering at the intersection of Bar-Ilan and Brandeis streets, a major ultra-Orthodox area of Jerusalem. The former military prisoners arrived by bus and were welcomed at an event billed as a tribute to “prisoners of the Torah world.”
Rally honoring Haredi men who had been jailed for failing to report for military service in Jerusalem
Organizers said the men would receive financial grants funded by donors abroad. Children attending the rally were given gift bags bearing the inscription: “The welcoming ceremony for prisoners of the Torah who had the privilege of sitting in prison for the ‘sin’ of preserving Judaism.”
The event followed a similar procession Sunday in Bnei Brak, the predominantly ultra-Orthodox city near Tel Aviv, where hundreds gathered to celebrate the release of about 160 Haredi men who had served time in military prison for failing to report for service.
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Rally honoring Haredi men who had been jailed for failing to report for military service in Jerusalem
Gift bags handed out to children at a Jerusalem rally honoring Haredi draft evaders released from military prison
A stage and orchestra were set up at the center of the Bnei Brak event, with music performed in honor of the former prisoners as they received an elaborate public welcome. The reception was particularly striking because many of the men come from groups on the margins of mainstream Lithuanian, or non-Hasidic, Haredi society. Their imprisonment, however, turned them into celebrated figures among those opposing military conscription.
News crews from Keshet 12, Reshet 13 and Kan 11 were attacked by groups of demonstrators during the Bnei Brak procession. Reshet and Kan crews withdrew because of the violence.
Nearly all of the dozens of Haredi draft evaders then being held in military prisons were members of the Breslov Hasidic movement. Many had been arrested at Ben Gurion Airport or other border crossings after returning to Israel, including from pilgrimages to the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov in Uman, Ukraine, an important destination for Breslov followers.
The arrests were carried out by police stationed at the airport and border crossings after the men were identified as wanted for failing to comply with military draft orders.
Long-running battle over Haredi military service
The rallies come amid one of Israel’s most divisive political and legal disputes: whether ultra-Orthodox men studying full time in yeshivas should be required to serve in the military.
For decades, many Haredi men were able to defer military service while pursuing full-time religious studies, often eventually receiving exemptions. The High Court of Justice ruled unanimously in June 2024 that, without a law authorizing such exemptions, the government must apply the military service law to eligible Haredi men.
The issue has grown more contentious as the military has reported manpower shortages following years of war and heavy reserve duty, while Haredi leaders have argued that full-time Torah study is central to their community’s religious identity and must be protected.
In July, the Knesset passed temporary legislation suspending arrests and other enforcement proceedings against qualifying yeshiva students who failed to report for military service. The High Court immediately froze the measure and, in early September, a nine-justice panel unanimously struck it down.
That ruling left Haredi men who ignore military orders exposed to enforcement measures, including arrest — the backdrop to the imprisonment of the men now being welcomed at rallies in Jerusalem and Bnei Brak.