Hundreds of thousands demonstrate in Jerusalem against haredi draft

Hundreds of thousands of ultra-Orthodox men, women and children turned out to take part in a mass prayer rally in the capital on Sunday.

The gathering was called to protest government legislation designed to conscript haredi men into national service.

Ultra-Orthodox men traveled from around the country to attend the event, while women, and children over the age of nine, living in Jerusalem also took part.

Some 3,500 officers and several helicopters were deployed to ensure order at all times, national police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

'Police units will be in and around the area from 2 p.m. until 6 p.m. to make sure the protest coordinates with the arrangements made by the haredi leadership and police,' said Rosenfeld. 'We will have border officers, patrol units and helicopters to oversee the demonstration from start to finish.'

Rosenfeld said that Route 1, beginning from Ben Shemen - and all local roads near the city's entrance - will be closed beginning at 1:30 p.m. Drivers are asked to use Route 443 as an alternative until the protest concludes.

'The section of Route 1 closed, as well as other closed local roads, will gradually be reopened after the protest finishes,' he said. 'We ask for the public's patience and cooperation during that time.'

Two youth who were protesting in favor of the draft and against the haredi protest were pepper sprayed directly to their eyes, Channel 2 reported. MDA paramedics were treating the injured youth.

Asked why police granted permission to the haredim to hold a protest that would be so disruptive to the city, Rosenfeld said it is a right afforded to all citizens who gain lawful permission ahead of time.

'The protesters have the right to carry out this massive demonstration as long as they carry it out in coordination with the police, which they're doing,' he said.

The entrance of the city was selected by authorities for the protest because it would allow for a 'relatively quick dispersal' after it concluded, Rosenfeld said.

'Any other place in Jerusalem would have blocked off the whole city,' he said.

As of 6:00 p.m. Magen David Adom EMS had treated more than 57 protesters at the rally.

All of the treated protesters were defined as lightly injured and suffered from weakness, minor bruising and difficulty with breathing due to the cramming and the hazy weather conditions, MDA said.

Four injured protesters were evacuated to a Jerusalem hospital.

The leader of the non-hassidic Ashkenazi haredi world, Rabbi Aharon Leib Shteinman, who is approximately 100-years-old, was expected to be at the center point of the prayer rally, accompanied by the Grand Rabbi of the Vizhnitz Hassidim, Rabbi Yisroel Hager.

People began arriving early in the morning to avoid traffic standstills at the entrance to the city, and shuttles operated from the Latrun area to the capital.

Psalms and other prayers are to be recited at the rally, but neither the leading rabbis nor haredi politicians were scheduled speak to the masses.

A spokesman for Shteinman said that there is a special prayer to be recited if one witnesses a gathering of 600,000 Jews, in recognition of the tradition that in the biblical account there were 600,000 men at Mount Sinai when the Israelites received the Torah.

The prayer rally organizers estimated that some 600,000 people will be in attendance, including all of the major haredi groups and political movements. According to Shteinman's spokesman, there has been a direct call not to engage in provocative or violent action, as has been witnessed at several anti-conscription demonstrations in recent months.

Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein expressed concern Sunday that the haredi conscription bill will cause a rift in the nation.

'There is currently record-high tension between groups in society and I fear for the unity of our nation,' he stated. 'The purpose of the law is to justly bring equality, but if the result is a civil war, we will not achieve anything.'

Edelstein condemned incitement against lawmakers and ministers, saying 'I am for freedom of expression and will defend any group's right to say what he has to say, but disseminating photos of elected officials in Nazi uniforms is very serious and can lead to real violence.'

Meanwhile, Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch voiced his support for the ultra-Orthodox enlistment legislature.

'The haredi draft bill is important; everyone needs to serve in the army and contribute,' he told Channel 2.

But, according to Meretz MK Ilan Gilon, the new law will not bring anything remotely resembling equality.

'Even the haredim are laughing. It's no coincidence that hundreds of thousands took to the street to pray. They're expressing thanks, because this is what they hoped for,' Gilon wrote on Facebook on Sunday. 'This bill will allow a mass of [enlistment] exemptions in the next decade and surely will not increase the percentage of haredim in the IDF.'

'Shas and United Torah Judaism could not have asked for anything better than this,' the Meretz MK added.

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