Hundreds of Haredi men gathered Monday evening in Bnei Brak for a protest against the military draft of yeshiva students, led by former Sephardi chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, as Israel’s political battle over mandatory service for ultra-Orthodox men continues to intensify.
The rally focused on arrests of yeshiva students who have not reported for military service, after years in which most full-time Haredi Torah students were exempt from enlistment. Israel’s Supreme Court has ruled that the state can no longer maintain blanket exemptions without a law, turning the issue into one of the most explosive disputes facing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition.
Yosef, a member of Shas’ Council of Torah Sages and one of the most senior Sephardi Haredi rabbis, attended the protest even though senior figures in Shas would have preferred to avoid the public attention around the event. Shas is one of Netanyahu’s Haredi coalition partners and is trying to advance legislation that would protect yeshiva students from being drafted.
Despite internal discussions throughout the day, Shas lawmakers Yoav Ben-Tzur, Michael Malchieli and Yonatan Mashriki attended the rally.
The event was initiated by Am Kadosh, an organization identified with the Jerusalem Faction and other hard-line Haredi groups. Those groups have also protested against Shas lawmakers, which is why party officials were uneasy about seeing their rabbis take part.
During the rally, Rabbi Aryeh Yazdi made inflammatory remarks against IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, attacking the military and calling on yeshiva students not to enlist.
Former Sephardi chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef
(Photo: Moti Kimchi)
“In the army, they educate people toward the gravest transgressions in this impure state,” Yazdi said. “This entire army comes to uproot the name of God.”
He then cursed Zamir, saying: “The accursed chief of staff, may his name and memory be erased, sent a soldier to prison because he wore a ‘Messiah’ patch. Do not fall into that place. Do not go to the army.”
Yosef said the rally was being held “to protest against the judges and all the wicked authorities.”
“When they take a yeshiva student shamefully to prison, it is a disgrace to the honor of Torah. That is why we gathered,” he said. Yosef also said that “when soldiers are killed, it is because of the decrees imposed on those who study Torah, instead of giving them all the silver and gold.”
At the start of the rally, Rabbi Shabtai Levy urged participants “not to speak against anyone, not to carry out pogroms and not to block roads, that is not the way of Torah scholars.” Later, however, he said that “the reason we are not defeating Hamas and Hezbollah is because when there is no respect for Torah, this is what happens.”
(Photo: Moti Kimchi)
Rabbi Levi Pinchasi also addressed the crowd, saying: “They do not want us in the army and they do not need us. One of their senior commanders said in court, ‘We do not need them, we only want to secularize them.’ Haman did not succeed, and neither will they.”
Leaflets distributed at the protest carried the slogan “Sephardi yeshiva students are not abandoned” and included a phone number for reporting arrests of draft evaders.
Last week, major traffic disruptions were reported across Israel during a Haredi protest against the arrest of draft evaders. The protest began with slow-moving vehicle convoys from dozens of locations in 19 cities, from north to south.
The protesters had originally planned to drive slowly to Prison 10 near Kfar Yona, where military detainees are held, but police blocked access to the area. Organizers said they would instead drive to nearby Route 57 and turn around. Shortly after 8:20 p.m., the organizers announced the protest was dispersing, while warning they would “consider additional surprises.”
Last week, ynet revealed a political deal being discussed between Netanyahu and the Haredi parties. Under the emerging arrangement, the coalition would advance Basic Law: Torah Study, a bill preventing arrests of draft deserters and the kashrut law. In return, the Haredi parties would support a political October 7 inquiry committee in its first reading, a bill to split the attorney general’s role and holding elections toward the end of October.