Overview
- Protesters, largely ultra-Orthodox men, demanded a permanent law exempting Torah students from service, with turnout reported from tens of thousands to about 200,000.
- Police closed a main highway into the city, halted public transport and deployed roughly 2,000 officers to control the demonstrations.
- Emergency services said a 15-year-old fell from a building during the protest and was pronounced dead.
- The rally was timed ahead of Knesset committee discussions next week on a conscription bill for the ultra-Orthodox.
- The Supreme Court voided the long-standing exemption in June 2024, the IDF began issuing draft summonses and detaining refusers, and Netanyahu’s promised protective law has not passed as Shas and UTJ left his government.