Overview
- Large crowds of ultra-Orthodox men rallied in Jerusalem to oppose plans to draft full-time yeshiva students into the military.
- Police shut a main road into the city, deployed about 2,000 officers, and halted public transportation during the demonstration.
- A 15-year-old boy died after falling from a building near the protest, according to Israel’s rescue service.
- Lawmakers are set to take up a conscription bill in committee next week after a 2024 Supreme Court ruling said the long-standing exemption had lapsed and the IDF began issuing draft notices.
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has proposed legislation to preserve exemptions, but no law has passed and the effort faces resistance, including from within his own party.