Pregnant woman injured, country-wide clashes as massive ultra-Orthodox draft protests turns violent

Mass vehicle convoys organized by ultra-Orthodox protesters caused severe traffic congestion on major Israeli highways on Wednesday, resulting in a multi-vehicle accident, violent street brawls, and a firearm incident.

The nationwide demonstrations were mobilized to protest the ongoing arrests of yeshiva students who refuse to report for mandatory military service.

The most severe traffic disruption occurred on Highway 1 near the Sha'ar Hagai interchange, where a 29-year-old heavily pregnant driver was moderately injured in a chain-reaction collision involving the slow-moving protest vehicles. United Hatzalah medics treated the woman at the scene before she was transported to the hospital. Elsewhere on Highway 1, a driver was filmed pulling a handgun from a moving vehicle and pointing it directly at Haredi demonstrators.

Simultaneously, severe violence broke out in the southern city of Arad. Secular residents clashed with demonstrators who were preparing to join the convoy of cars protesting. The altercations escalated into mass brawls that spilled into residential neighborhoods, with footage showing groups of youths attacking members of the Hasidic community. Police and Border Guard forces deployed to the area to separate the factions and restore order.

According to the demonstration's organizing committee, more than 7,000 vehicles participated in the synchronized protest, departing from 20 cities across Israel.

Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf, who led a convoy on Route 1, declared the demonstration a religious duty, stating it is unthinkable that young men can study Torah without interference in foreign countries but face arrest in the Jewish state. Jerusalem Affairs Minister Meir Porush blamed the violence on judicial and law enforcement leadership, claiming that rhetoric from Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and police officials had incited the public against Haredi citizens.