Roads blocked, violent protests break out over orthodox military draft
The Jerusalem Faction blocked the Ganot Junction and caused train traffic to be halted. Meanwhile special police forces rescued a soldier who was attacked at the entrance to the capital
A wave of intense protests led by the "Jerusalem Faction," an extremist ultra-Orthodox political organization, has been disrupting traffic and infrastructure systems Monday afternoon across Israel. In the Dan region, hundreds of ultra-Orthodox protesters marched from Bnei Brak blocked the Ganot Junction, causing congestion on the way to Ben Gurion Airport.
Despite posing a significant safety risk and being against instructions, protesters entered the railway tracks in the Ganot area, temporarily halting train services. They will resume only upon official approval.
In Jerusalem, there are severe disruptions at the entrance to the city and at the Chords Bridge, on Herzl Boulevard, on Begin Road, as well as in the Har Hotzvim area following an attempted break-in at the police technology department offices.
During the riots at the Chords Bridge, a mob of rioters surrounded and attacked a soldier who got off a bus. YSAM fighters and Jerusalem District police officers who noticed what was happening used crowd dispersal measures, rescued the soldier to a safe place, and he continued on his way. At present, police and Border Police forces are operating at the scene to restore order and reopen the roads.
At the same time, the ultra-Orthodox community was seen demonstrating outside the home of the head of the Traffic Division, Major General Haim Shmueli, in Pisgat Ze'ev, in protest against the imprisonment of Torah students in military prison.
The tension on the ground comes after a violent night in Beit Shemesh, where dozens of extremists broke into a police station, blocked roads, and set fire to a nearby forest following the arrest of a deserter. Despite the severity of the incidents in Beit Shemesh, the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court ordered the release of the eight suspects who were arrested during these riots.
Netivei Israel, Israel's National Transport Infrastructure Company, reported that Highway 4 has been completely closed to northbound traffic from the Shva Interchange to the Ganot Interchange, along with a local southbound closure at the Ganot Interchange. The protest has also spread to the south, where Highway 25 has been blocked in both directions near the Netivot Junction.
All this escalation comes following the Attorney General's decision to revoke tax benefits from organizations of draft evaders. Shas chairman Aryeh Deri warned that the move would lead to a "tax revolt and a break with the police," while Justice Minister Levin called for an urgent meeting against "judicial anarchy."
The Cabinet Secretary, Yossi Fuchs, also criticized the decision and claimed that the selective enforcement and economic sanctions against the ultra-Orthodox public "will ultimately lead to a decrease in enlistment, to the entire ultra-Orthodox public becoming like the Jerusalem Faction, and God forbid, to civil war."