Thousands of ultra‑Orthodox (Haredi) demonstrators participated in an anti‑conscription rally in Jerusalem on Tuesday, gathering to welcome home members of their community who had been released from military prison.
The demonstration took place in the Kikar HaShabbat area, extending along Shmuel HaNavi and Bar Ilan streets in the capital.
According to Kan News, the march was organized by the extremist anti‑IDF draft group known as the Haredi Jerusalem Faction (Peleg Yerushalmi).
Video footage of the event shows protesters holding signs with strong anti‑draft messages, including: “With all your soul, we will die and will not enlist;” “Release the hostages from Prison 10, who will never serve in the enemy’s army;” and “If I had to choose whether he would go to the army or die the way he died, I would prefer that he die.”
“We will not sacrifice our children at the altar of Zionism,” read another banner.
Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot criticized the rally in a post on X/Twitter Tuesday evening, linking it to the upcoming elections.
“The upcoming elections are a choice between a government of evasion and a Zionist government that enforces the draft,” Eisenkot wrote. “The State of Israel cannot afford another term of a government of evasion.”
Avigdor Liberman, chairman of Yisrael Be’tenu, also condemned the demonstration on X.
“A welcoming parade for ‘released’ draft evaders is taking place in Jerusalem, as if they had just finished three years of combat in Gaza,” he said. “These are Netanyahu’s partners. Without the draft dodgers, Bibi has no government.”
Liberman later called on Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz to denounce the protest and demanded an investigation into funds distributed to the draft evaders.
Former Prime Minister and B’Yachad party chairman Naftali Bennett also denounced the march, stating that “in this government, the heroes are the draft dodgers, not the fighters.”
Bennett labeled draft evasion “the real security threat” and accused Netanyahu and Shas chairman Aryeh Deri of disbursing billions of shekels to the evaders.
Brig.-Gen. (res.) Ofer Winter, founder of the People of Israel movement, said the rally “abused and embarrassed” IDF soldiers.
Bennett slams haredi parade of ‘draft evaders, shirkers’
On Saturday, Bennett, Liberman, and Reservists‑Economic Party leader Yoaz Hendel criticized a march in Bnei Brak opposing Haredi enlistment, calling it a “parade of draft evaders and shirkers.”
The three politicians linked the event to the election campaign and the ongoing debate over conscription legislation.
Bennett further rebuked Deri, arguing that continued Haredi party participation in the government would result in additional budgets for a population that does not serve in the military.
“This is exactly what the elections are about,” Bennett wrote. “Under my leadership, anyone who does not enlist will not receive a single shekel from the state. What is not Zionist will not be funded at my expense.”
Miriam Sela‑Eitam and Tzvi Jasper contributed to this report.
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